Laffite, Paris) is also a public meeting
place for the leaders of the woman's rights movements. _La Francaise_
arouses interest in the cause of woman's rights among women teachers and
office clerks in the provinces. Recently the management of the magazine
has been converted to the cause of woman's suffrage. In the spring of 1909
the French Woman's Suffrage Society (_Union francaise pour le souffrage
des femmes_) was organized under the presidency of Madame Schmall (a
native of England). Madame Schmall is also to be regarded as the
originator of the law of July 13, 1907, which pertains to the earnings of
the wife. The _Union_ has joined the International Woman's Suffrage
Alliance. In the House of Deputies there is a group in favor of woman's
rights. The French woman's rights movement seems to be spreading rapidly.

Emile de Morsier organized the French movement favoring the abolition of
the official regulation of prostitution. Through this movement an
extraparliamentary commission (1903-1907) was induced to recognize the
evil of the existing official regulation of prostitution. This is the
first step toward abolition.

BELGIUM

Total population: 6,815,054.
Women: 3,416,057.
Men: 3,398,997.

Federation of Belgian Women's Clubs.
Woman's Suffrage League.

It is very difficult for the woman's rights movement to thrive in Belgium.
Not that the movement is unnecessary there; on the contrary, the legal
status of woman is regulated by the Code Napoleon, hence there is decided
need for reform. The number of women exceeds that of the men; hence part
of the girls cannot marry. Industry is highly developed. The question of
wages is a vital question for women laborers. Accordingly there are
reasons enough for instituting an organized woman's rights movement in
Belgium. But every agitation for this purpose is hampered by the
following social factors: Catholicism (Belgium is 99 per cent Catholic),
Clericalism in Parliament, and the indifference of the rich bourgeoisie.

The woman's rights movement has very few adherents in the third estate,
and it is exactly the women of this estate that ought to be the natural
supporters of the movement. In the fourth estate, in which there are a
great many Socialists, the woman's rights movement is identical with
Socialism.

Since the legal status of woman is determined by the Code Napoleon, we
need not comment upon it here. By a law of 1900, the wife is