Women in Positions of Government

Her Excellency Ellen Wilkinson, Member of the House of Commons and Minister of Education, is the only lady in the world who holds a ministerial post at the present time. She says that in order for ladies to be able to prepare themselves to follow political life, they must direct their attention to public affairs in their own circles and try to improve conditions in every circle in which they find themselves.

Many American and Canadian journalists have asked her this question: "Do you really believe that the women in uniform will return to home life? Do you not think that family life will seem very narrow to them after the moving experiences they have known in the war?" Her answer has always been that she is certain that revolt against home life does not begin in the camps, because the woman who has been separated from her home for a long time longs for nothing so much as to return to the house and enjoy her personal freedom in it. We in Britain have done good work in educating woman and arousing her interest in public affairs. But the time of training is over now, and a large number of women must be ready to shoulder responsibilities, for it is neither just nor fair to demand woman's equality with man in rights while she is unwilling to be his equal in responsibilities.

In the British Parliament today there are more women than at any time past — they number twenty-one. But this, of course, is not enough, especially since, after Miss Perkins left her post as Minister of Labor in the government of the United States, Ellen Wilkinson became the only lady in the world holding a ministerial post. Miss Wilkinson says: "It is easy to lay the blame on the men, but I believe that is not fair at all; perhaps the real reason for our shirking of responsibilities is the inherited modesty within us, so that we feel in the depths of our hearts that we women cannot undertake grave responsibilities like a man.

"But high political posts demand the bearing of the greatest responsibilities. The British Council of Ministers holds two sessions every week at No. 10 Downing Street. From the days of Pitt and Gladstone and Disraeli, and from the era of Sir Robert Walpole in 1735 down to the era of Churchill's ministry and of Clement Attlee's ministry in 1945, No. 10 Downing Street has remained the seat of the British premiership, and over this long stretch of time it has seen only twenty ladies, at various times. Before each of these lady ministers were laid the papers and cases concerning all parts of the Empire, some of them bearing on world problems and on domestic questions of every kind. Every member of the Cabinet is expected to read all the incoming papers and the many telegrams before the session of the Council of Ministers convenes. This means the minister must spend every minute reading papers and telegrams, from the early hours of the morning until a late hour of the night. He is scarcely allowed even a short chance at the week's end to read an entertaining novel. And if a member of the Council of Ministers wishes to spend a few days in the countryside for a change of air, he or she must take the ministerial dispatch case along, and many documents and official papers must be sent to him with the official messengers.

"Although this is an exceedingly heavy burden, it is also enjoyable. Real responsibility is the essential burden of ministerial office — in the matter of secrecy, which is utterly necessary. I therefore place this at the head of the responsibilities I must bear, even though I love talking and discussing political matters with my friends, men and women alike. But I now find myself naturally avoiding taking part in such conversations with friends, because I know what they are aiming at behind them. And I know very well that God Almighty has not granted me the gift of feigning ignorance of things as the skilled poker players do; so I keep away from my friends when I am bound to keep one of the great secrets, lest I give one of them room to guess merely from looking at my face.

"Then there is the responsibility of taking grave decisions. Friends often say to me: do you not grow flustered when you find yourself alone among your colleagues, the men ministers, in important meetings such as these? But my experience has taught me that if a woman regards herself as her male colleague's equal in work and responsibility, he will treat her as he treats him. But if she insists on always being treated as a woman and as a lady, she will receive

all the outward marks of respect from the man, yet she will be neither his equal nor his colleague. The lady who wants to take her share in public life and remain at the same time a respected lady must use all her mental gifts; she may be a respected political personality, but she will never be a peer of the men of politics.

"As for responsibility, and the high posts that demand great responsibilities in public life — every important career needs the sharpening of the mind, and needs training. Someone may ask: how is this training to be obtained? Many men, and a few women, enter the arena of public life in middle age or a little before, after they have achieved success in other fields — or, in the case of ladies, after the lady has become the mother of a family. But for the wife or the mother to be able to carry the burdens of a post of high standing, she must have persevered in practicing and training for it while she was carrying out her own household duties. In truth, success in political life depends to a great extent on the range and breadth of the experiences the politician has known in his past life. I have observed how a political figure, when a crisis breaks out and there is no time to consult advisers or refer to documents, is compelled to rely on past experience. I have said that political life needs specialization and training of a kind the lady at home has no hope of obtaining.

"Yet plentiful reading of biographies and of the history of modern governments can easily be done by way of the libraries. This is very necessary, so that a woman may equip herself with the experiences of others, contemporaries and predecessors. And if, madam, you live in one of the great cities, the matter is much easier for you, for you can also learn from what you hear and see around you, if you open your heart and forget your shyness. Then you will find that there is no one who knows more than you about the problems and difficulties and the ways of treating them. Have you ever tried to learn the solutions to problems that others have proposed? You have only to meet with those whose ways of thinking and of solving problems you approve, and you will soon find yourself in one of the political parties. Try to convince others that these solutions are right, and you will soon find that you have become a political advocate. Volunteer to attend the sessions of the municipal councils and defend your theories and opinions there, and you will find that you have become a political personality. These are the first steps — and how easy they are! What comes afterward depends on you, and in the first degree on the measure of your honesty with yourself, and on whether you are capable of listening to evidence and proofs in order to arrive at the truths."