CHAPTER VIII
THE ECONOMIC PROBLEM
(2) The Mother
"In the dark womb where I began
My mother's life made me a man ;
Through all the months of human birth
Her beauty fed my common earth ;
I cannot see, nor breathe, nor stir,
But through the death of some of her."
THE neglected motherhood of England cried out for attention, and it is getting attention with a vengeance. A veritable Babel is being raised on the subject of mothers. Progressive women are all for more recognition and support of motherhood, but the difference between the reactionaries and them is that they hold the first thing necessary, to give intelligent support and recognition, is the liberation of the mother from all the antiquated rubbish of coverture law and from some of the worst results of economic servitude. Else indeed may women find that they have only exchanged King Log for King Stork. While King Log is reigning, little is done for the mothers directly by the State. Women, when they marry, are merged into their
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