Our Women Members on the Municipal Council ...

General programs calling for the cleaning and beautification of Beirut, the provision of the needed shelters for beggars, the inspection of the meat and vegetable markets, and the strict application of order to all citizens.

Ever since the honorable State resolved to recognize woman's right as a human being, and ever since the news of the appointment of ladies to municipal posts began making the rounds in various circles, opinions have clashed and questioned over this matter. Did the government do well in this? Is it fitting for a woman to exchange her proper place in homes and salons for a post that requires her to attend to matters so complicated that her weary nerves cannot bear them?

Come with me, all of you, and let us knock at the doors of this good nucleus that was chosen to stand side by side with man, raising her voice beside his voice, working with her heart alongside his heart, and walking with her mind to match his mind.

I made for the home of Miss Ibtihaj Kaddoura, that gracious lady who has accompanied the women's movement since its birth. I take my seat beside her, and no sooner does she learn my errand than she bursts out, saying:

- It has struck me clearly and plainly that man has come to trust woman, considering her a good citizen worthy of confidence, who takes part in the work and performs it excellently. He welcomes her wherever she is found, and this is the first sign of equality; and he is now working hard to do her justice and to grant her her full rights, educated or illiterate, feeling that her cause has become entirely his own.

As for my program, I shall draw it up according to the pressing need and the passing circumstance that requires me to act quickly. I am new to my post, and there has not yet been time for me to acquaint myself with the facts of things, so as to put the most important before the important, lay out a program that answers the call of urgent need, and do what my love and pride in my city of Beirut impose upon me. After I have looked into all this, I shall issue a statement to the honorable citizens so that they may see the condition of their town today, and then I shall say to them: "From here we begin."

I shall work on the finance committee to see how the funds are spent and how we must guard them. I shall work on the health and social committee to contribute to the public service, to maintain the cleanliness of the city which Beirut lacks, and to strengthen public health, which fortifies the people's vigor. Then there are vagrant childhood and hands idle from work, which I shall strive to combat, standing in the face of unemployment and preserving human dignity from the humiliation of begging and loitering at doors. Yet I believe that the backing of the entire people is most necessary, and that its cooperation with us in applying order, whether in the homes, the streets, or the schools, is essential for realizing our hopes and reaching the goal to which we aspire.

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I leave Miss Ibtihaj Kaddoura to go straightaway to call on Mrs. Ellen Rihan, the second woman member of the council. I offer her my greeting and she returns it in kind as she leads me to her private study. I ask her about her hopes and her programs; she smiles and says:

- Allow me to answer in all frankness: I intend to lay down the regulations and apply them with the utmost severity, accepting no intercession and no appeal, for the law must be applied, because our city has become unbearable from the abundance of filth and the foul odors rising in all its quarters.

I feel that my chief task, too, is to strive to beautify the city of Beirut by creating public gardens and promenades for old and young.

I shall also strive to post the municipal police at every corner of the city; and they are to watch over traffic, keep vigil over cleanliness, and prevent the uttering of foul language. All this must be applied strictly, after we have taught our people that they must obey even if obedience should lead to misery and hardship. We must teach our people that they are to care for the streets of their city as they care for the cleanliness of their own homes. And I ask our mothers to help us in this work of ours, for upon them depends the success of our projects.

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Here is Mrs. Laure Tabet, receiving me with a cheerful face and a lovely smile, and no sooner do I sit with her in a corner of her elegant salon than I hasten to say:

- Tell me, Madam, what was your feeling when the decree appointing you to the Municipal Council was issued?

- I knew of the matter before it was issued, and so its news did not surprise me at all.

- Go on, Madam, and tell me about the program you intend to carry out.

- I have been appointed to the social and health committees, and then to the finance committee, and every woman can contribute in these two fields. As for my program, it comes down first to supervising the course of work of the cleaning employees; and it matters greatly to me to confine this work to the working employees alone, after removing those who draw salaries without doing any work. Then I intend to combat begging and to provide the needed shelter for these needy people, so that they may find a safe place to turn to.

- Am I to understand from this that you intend to undertake projects for building shelters and hospitals?

- Not at all, for we have a fair number of them, and we have only to encourage these institutions and work hand in hand with them.

It also matters to me to supervise the distribution of meat, vegetables, and fruit, for these are among the necessities of life, and I do not think they receive sufficient care from those who deal in them.

- What is your word to your sister, woman?

- My one wish is to see her working with us with her hand and her heart, encouraging us to carry out our projects and drawing our attention to what concerns her. We, for our part, shall work to perform our duty, and I hope we shall live up to her good opinion of us.

I come out of these three interviews with many thoughts contending within me and various pictures passing before me. I see myself in Beirut a year after this declaration which three of Beirut's ladies have spoken in my hearing. Set your minds at ease, my ladies, for Beirut has become free of beggars and loiterers, cleanliness and beauty pervade its streets, and by your zeal and energy we have reached what we were aspiring to; there are no longer any hands idle from work, and the squandering of the municipality's funds has been done away with.

May God fulfill your hope and ours, and bring us to what holds our good and the good of our country.