CHAPTER XVII.
WOMEN AS JOURNALISTS.
There is a great deal of work which can be creditably and profitably done by lady members of the Press. Although we may smile at the attempt of ladies to get into the Reporters' Gallery, there is no doubt that the clause which admits ladies to membership of the Institute is in accordance with the popular ideas of the day. — Mr Edward Lawson.
THE recent demand for the admission of a woman reporter to the reporters' gallery of the House of Commons has brought the subject of women as journalists into a prominence which it has not hitherto enjoyed. There is, of course, no novelty in the employment of women in newspaper work. For years past they have been so engaged in America, in London, and in Paris. But it is only—in this country at least—when they claim equal privileges with men in the profession, that their vocation becomes for a time matter of public comment. For example, the controversy about the admission of women to the Institute of Journalists had, in a lesser degree, the result just mentioned. In respect to the more recent request put forward on behalf of women that Press representatives of their own sex should have facilities for Parliamentary reporting, it is highly probable that in an age in which so many politicians have recognized women's suffrage as inevitable, more will yet be heard of their claim.
If there were—as there should be—ample accommodation for all representatives of the Press who desire to be present during the Parliamentary debates, no valid objection could be raised on the score of sex to the admission of women. The severe limitation of space and the mul-
