politics has decreed, for example — so that we are forced to observe the percentage in appointments: I say that in such a case I prefer that woman remain in her home. In sum, the question is a human question that must be solved in a human, cooperative way; and in my view there is nothing against all the posts going to men — for example — or all of them to women, if merit so decrees.
Here the delegate says "Praise be to God," and remembers the poll at the Palace of Justice and the rigidity of the judges in the bureau of Rida Bey al-Tamer, and remembers the voice of that judge who followed her to the door, saying: Women and
politics?? Never, never — I will not pass sentence of ruin upon Lebanon.
A Supporter Minister
And the round ends in the bureau of the Minister, Dr. Raif Abi al-Lama. In his waiting rooms are twenty visitors, men and women — and in the corridor half
that number. God eases the way, and the delegate's turn comes; she enters and begins the poll standing, so the Minister remained standing too, saying:
— I favor giving woman all rights.
Question: When?
Answer: At once.
Question: But the new law — you finished drafting it only yesterday — withholds these rights. How do you think this law should be amended?
Answer: There are two ways — 1. Pursuing publicity in the newspapers, the magazines, and the radio, and winning public opinion, and especially the Chamber of Deputies.
The second: coordinating and unifying the efforts of the women's organizations in Lebanon —
And let me ask you a question in my turn — you, the educated woman of letters — do you, madam, consider that the plan followed in Syria, that is, giving woman the right to vote but not the right to stand for election, is a sound idea? And do the women's organizations approve of it?
The delegate — Your Excellency's question goes beyond the competence I have imposed upon myself, which is to conduct the poll for the magazine "The Woman's Voice," not to offer opinions. The women's
His Excellency Dr. Raif Abi al-Lama
organizations have handed the whole matter to a special committee, to which I shall carry your question.
Answer: Since you refer me to a "committee" whose opinion I cannot know now — and though I do not much believe in business referred to committees — take my opinion: the question of woman's rights, from the theoretical standpoint, is a social battle which had best be waged all at once, so that woman either wins it or loses it. We are in a milieu whose circumstances are not yet all ripe to secure this victory for woman... It is therefore a gamble, and the hope of her gaining all her rights at one stroke is weak — whereas the gaining of "some" of these rights, that is, electoral rights for educated women only, is among the things that can be done, and it can be achieved in the near future.
The delegate — We have reached the thorny constitutional point! How do you see the amendment of the law being brought about?
The Minister — The law is amended if some deputies who believe in woman's cause see fit to amend it, or if the government presents a bill.
The delegate — May we count on Your Excellency to raise this subject in the Council of Ministers?...
The Minister — I do not think the Council of Ministers would present a bill of this importance unless it sensed acceptance from the members of the Chamber of Deputies.
The delegate — So it falls to the women, then, to "bring around" the deputies?
The Minister — To bring around — and to "ring around" — the Chamber of Deputies... In any case, the present deputies will not enjoy the ladies' "ringing around," for there is no room left in this Chamber's term... It is your
duty, then, to work for the election of new deputies who will live up to good expectations.
The delegate — And if God should create what you know not?
The Minister — For example?
The delegate — If His Excellency the President should look to woman's worthiness and her abundant favors to this homeland, and use his broad powers, and smooth for her the paths of arriving swiftly at the parliamentary assembly???
The Minister — ?!
"The Woman's Voice"