Little Eva's Slacks

The right of a girl to wear slacks to school last week involved the Lord Chief Justice and all Britain in defining the subtle frontier between liberty and the law.

The slacks belonged to little Eva Spiers, 14-year-old daughter of a Lancashire nail-maker. Five years ago, she had an attack of rheumatic fever. "Her little body was all twisted up," said her mother, Mrs. Ernest Spiers. "There were nights when I thought I would never get her straight."

Woman-to-Woman Talk. By August 1950, Eva was well enough to start at the Richard Fairclough Secondary Modern School. She wore the standard school uniform: navy blue gym slip and white blouse. That fall, Eva's knees felt cold: she said she was getting the aches again. By November, she was in bed, and her legs were so painful that her father had to build a wire cage so that the blankets would not lie across them.

When she was well. Eva went back to school, but this time she wore slacks. The headmistress, Miss Fitter, said Eva was improperly dressed, and sent her home. "I wish you could have seen Eva's face," said Mrs. Spiers. "It was red from crying."

Mrs. Spiers took Eva to the Education Offices. "I was blazing mad," she said. "They said I should have a woman-to-woman talk with Miss Fitter. I went to see her. Talk about a woman-to-woman talk. She said it was the school rule. I said 'Where is it?' She said, 'They won't allow it.' I said, 'Who's they?' She said, 'The school.' I said, 'What d'ye mean, the school? That's bricks and mortar; it can't talk.' She said, 'Eva looks smart in school rig.' I said, 'She didn't look so smart in bed.'

The Queen's Example. All winter and the following autumn, Mrs. Spiers sent Eva to school in slacks. Every Monday the headmistress spotted her in the hall, and sent her home for the week.

Last December, Ernest Spiers was summoned before the town magistrate for keeping Eva out of school. He too was blazing mad. "Nobody wants his child to go to school more than I do," he said. "She can go to school in hail, rain or snow, but as I dress her. When the east wind blew, the Queen put Princess Anne in slacks. When I put my daughter in slacks, I am prosecuted."

The magistrates asked if Spiers would get a medical certificate for Eva. No, he would not: it was a matter of principle. The magistrates said they "sympathized," but they ruled against Spiers. He was fined 10 shillings ($1.40), and told to send Eva to school, in the correct uniform.

Spiers, a truculent individualist, refused. He hired lawyers and appealed. He took Eva--in slacks--to court with him. The Appeals Committee agreed that "the slacks are altogether seemly"; they criticized the school uniform system ("There is altogether too much uniformity"); they revoked Spiers' fine.

A Matter of Discipline. Now it was the school's turn to appeal. Lord Goddard, the Lord Chief Justice, heard the case last week. Two doctors told him that Eva had rheumatism, and ought to be kept warm. "But keeping warm has nothing to do with wearing slacks," boomed one judge. "One of the warmest garments is the kilt." Lord Goddard summed up: "Suppose some parents said they thought that in summer a child, in the interests of health, should go to school without clothes--what then? Would the headmistress be obliged to admit the child? The headmistress has the right and power to keep discipline." Spiers was ordered to send Eva back to school--in the correct uniform.

Spiers was still defiant: "Every penny we had has gone into this fight." Out of work now and ailing, he was keeping his family on $10.50 a week. "I shall stand by my rights. I am an Englishman and I fought for my country . . ." Mrs. Spiers was with him to the bitter end. "I'll take Eva back to school," she said, "in slacks. Then it is up to the police."

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