Le Nord : revue internationale des Pays de Nord - 01.06.1942, Síða 272

LE NORD
260
carrots, and other vegetables and transfer them from the surplus
stock in the country districts to families with small incomes in the
Capital, in order to provide a greatly needed supplement, rich
in vitamins, to the diet.
45 Tons were collected and distributed in 1941, 165 Tons
in 1942—43, and this gesture of solidarity between country and
town has been greatly appreciated.
In 1941 the D. K. S. undertook a new task which had a
double aspect, giving work to unemployed women and helping
poor and often overworked housewives in solving some of their
problems. In collaboration with the L. A. B. and with financial
support from the Department of Labour a system of “house-
wives’ substitutes” and centres for exchange and repairs of cloth-
ing have been created in several towns.
Housewives’ substitutes are sent free of charge to homes
(below a certain maximum income), where the housewife is
absent or ill, to take care provisionally of the household.
The repair-shops receive for repair, by qualified seamstresses,
articles of clothing (men’s, women’s and children’s clothes); a
nominal charge is made for the cost of the material. This insti-
tution renders great services in the present circumstances, new
clothes being very expensive and difficult to obtain; it has be-
come a great success wherever it has been set up, i. e. In 9 cities,
and in other localities, similar arrangements are being prepared.
The D. K. S. has also done useful work in the field of educa-
tion. Many of the women’s organizations in Denmark include in
their programme the development of the general knowledge and
the understanding of the responsibilities which rest upon Danish
women, more particularly as a result of the suffrage which was
granted to them as early as 1915. In the present circumstances,
although political elections are temporarily suspended, it is just
as important as ever to develop the sense of national and social
responsibility amongst Danish women; the D. K. S. takes every
opportunity to do so. In general, it may be said that many mem-
bers of the bourgeoisie are more negligent in this field than their
sisters amongst the workers. For this reason, the D. K. S. has
organized courses in citizenship with the slogan: Do you know
what you ought to know? which have been very well attended
by women who, otherwise, would hardly have tried to obtain
a training of this type.