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FRANCE VOTES OCTOBER 28

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De Gaulle asks for a blank cheque

Summary of an article by
SAM RUSSELL

: here’ll be no room at
the top or anywhere
. Ase in France for anybody
ut General de Gaulle.
‘hd his chosen gauleiters
s the general wins the re-
rendum he has called for
October 29,
; What is at stake in the
theoming plebiscite in
Tance is more than the mere
Method of election of future
Tesidents — it is the whole
pone of France itself; fas-
mM or democracy.
' When he first proposed that
© President should be elect-
tha by popular vote rather
a an Electoral College,
sident de Gaulle claimed
at this would ensure greater
“mocracy,
Feiice then, however, he has
€d that if this proposed
Bote in the Constitution is
Wil 8ccepted by the people, he
Bs sign — a rather strange
Tt of democracy!
inte Making the referendum
3 & vote of confidence for
®gainst himself, General de
8ulle has shown that he aims

Real p

BY MYRTLE BERGREN
MS2eRs women’s restless-

a ness and discontent is not
ora the fault of the individual
Wel S our society that is not

ie emendous changes have

ae About in technology, the
ae of women are now
dwellers, and they go out

Work, leaving children poorly

peed because society still
ce that all mothers can
chilgn Ome to take care of their
en,

Eo ninic need forces a wife to
done & factory job, but having
he 4 day’s work, she returns to
in, wll round of washing, clean-

’ 8nd cooking. Their children
thin and with no adequate
tha, © ‘© fall back on, far too
tha, Women of North America
a ie Middle years of life not
at . "8 but a burden, and that

a time of crying need for
Sogiay ” teachers, stenographers,
meer kers, librarians, etc.
sion are a few of the con-
Cent Rett out at the re-
Mee ¢ C Public Affairs Confer-
Men i. the Real World of Wo.
tended, in Toronto Sept. 6 to 9,
the by 492 delegates. Just off
bog oa is an interesting 96-page
Lining a the conference, con-
ang < Surteen reports of women
fig, : © or two men eminent in
labo Of science, education, and

Wome the U.S. and Canada.
the he make up 27 percent of
ang og labor force of Canada,
1 “arg dilemma is that society

being i the place of women as
Nore : the home, yet more and
Side men are employed out-
84 a home. The teen-age girl
tins 5 Of the most obvious. vic-
to Many confusion. Expecting

th otter she seeks work

to use the result, if it is fav-
orable, to extend his person-
al power.

And that is why the gen-
eral is being opposed by every
political party in France a-
part from his own U.N.R. Par-
ty. He is being opposed even
by those parties who brought
him to power in 1958 and
voted a new constitution en-
abling the general to under-
mine democracy in France
bit hv hit
MEMORIES LINGER

The French people know
from the history of their
country (and others) that “an
appeal to the people” has of-
ten been used by demagogues
to get dictatorial powers and
bury democracy.

The French people have not
forgotten how, about 100
years ago, Napolean III began
his path to power hv * niobi-
scite, the result of which he
later used to proclaim himself
Emporer.

In Germany, before the
war, Hitler used the plebiscite
in the same way. In his
speeches, de Gaulle presents
himself to the nation as the
“suide.” a word which is the
exact French translation of

roblems in women’s

and training are foreshortened. A
job seems to her a passing phase
in life.

MANY UNTRAINED

A recent study undertaken in
the U.S. shows the average wo-
man will work 25 years of her
life, and experiences of Canadian
women are .considered similar.
Therefore the young girl will find
herself untrained for a job when
the need arises. “‘Can we afford
to leave her future to chance?”
asks Marion Royce, Director of
the Women’s Bureau, Dep’t. of
Labor, Ottawa.

“Most glaring is our failure to
ensure adequate day care facil-
ities for the children of working
mothers,’”’ Mrs. Royce continues.
“Tt is often argued that to in-
crease and improve day care ser-
vices would simply induce more
women to leave their children
and go out to work. In fact, how-
ever, women work for other
reasons than the existence of
child care services or the lack
of them, and there is a certain
naivete in our reluctance to en-
sure that they are available. Good
standards of care should be estab-
lished by law.”

Attention was given to the
current “neo anti-feminism”’
which would drive women back
to the home. ‘‘The presence of
married women in the labor
force remains a controversial
issue in the minds of many peo-
ple, and many married women
who go outside to work have

feelings of guilt,’ said Mrs.
Royce.
Byrna Ball, who is Executive

Director, National Manpower
Council, New York, had this to

say, ‘Imagine what life would-

be like if we were forced to get

s

returns. Her education along without 98 Reren of all our

a

the German ‘“‘fuehrer’” or the
Italian ‘‘duce.”

By his action in, flouting
the provisions of his own 1958
Constitution when they did
not suit him, General de
Gaulle has shown that if he
wins the referendum he will
take it as a blank cheque en-
titlng him to do what he
wants.

TWO CHANCES

This is why as much, if not
more, depends on the Gener-
al Election (of Deputies to

nurses, 95 percent of all the tele-
phone operators, 82 percent of
all the waitresses, 94 percent of
all stenographers, typists, and
secretaries, 75 percent of all our
school teachers, ete. Few men
are prepared or willing to work
in most of the jobs which women

See

NEW WORLD FOR WOMEN UNDER SOCIALISM. Abo-

De Groene, Amsterdam
Parliament) of November 18
and 25 as on the referendum
(to amend the constitution) of
October 28.

For, even iff the general
gets his vote of confidence on
Oct. 28, the French people
will have another opportunity
of blocking the way to fas-
cism by inflicting a crushing
defeat at the elections on the
U.N.R. and Premier Pompi-
dou.

The key question facing
France is whether those par-

hold. The truth of the matter is
that the overwhelming majority
of women workers do not com-

pete with men for jobs. The
world of work is still distinguish-
ed by the division of jobs and
occupations by sex.”’

lition of the capitalist system which breeds all forms of in-
equality has opened a new world for women in many lands.
Photo above shows women students training to become
dental surgeons in China. In socialist lands full equality for
women has been established. In this article Myrtle Bergren
discusses some of the problems facing women in capitalist

countries today.

ties which united to throw out
the Pompidou government re-
cently can again unite to de-
feat de Gaulle’s party at the
elections.

UNITY IS KEY

There is no doubt that it
can be done, but, to do it, the
leaders of the Socialist, Radi-
cal, _M.R.P.. Catholic and
Other parties opposed to de
Gaulle will have to get rid of
their violent anti-communist
prejudices, which have only
helped de Gaulle so far.

A defeat for de Gaulle
would be a defeat for the
forces of reaction and Big
Business in France. Premier
Pompidou, before being ap-
pointed by de Gaulle, was a
top director for the powerful
Rothschilds Bank; the rest of
the Cabinet represented be-
tween them the ‘half-dozen
other most powerful banks
and finance houses in France.

The threat that the general,
despite certain differences
with top military circles,
would use the army against
the people, increases day by
day.

Only the combined forces
of all the anti-Gaullists will
prevent (fascism in France.

world

NO FREEDOM TO CHOOSE

Dr. Henry David, Pres. of the
New York School for Social
Research, declared his suspicion
that the most important finding
of the conference would be that
freedom of choice for Canadian
women has been vastly maxim-
ized, and that lip service has
become real.

Two notes on the theme of
equality were struck. One, that
it was simply a denial of human
dignity to deny women equal
access, equal rights, equal oppor-
tunity. Second, it didn’t make
sense to base discrimination upon
sex.

A whole range of adjustments
are needed, he added. There
could be greater use of part time
women workers to accommodate
those with children in school;
readily there could be more flexi-
bility in educational institutions,
new ways of providing for child
care, a variety of public and
private institutions of a nursery
character; adjustments in legis-
lation to take care of discrimin-
atory practices, etc.

Speakers pointed out that since
the end of World War II more and
more women have entered the
labor force, but a change has
taken place in the trend in the
kind of work they have proved
ability to do during the war. Wo-
men have remained close to the
traditional occupations — teach.
ing, nursing, social work, etc.
“To find substantial evidence
that women make good doctors,

dentists, pharmacists, engineers,’,

said Thelma McCormack, teach-
er at many universities in the
U.S. and Canada, ‘‘we have te go
outside of North America where
the emancipation of women has

See WOMEN’S WORLD, pg. 10

Oct. 26, 1962—PACIFIC TRIBUNE—Pace ©

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