Wisconsin tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1847-1854, 1850-09-07
wHITwS FOR THE TRIBUNE
Waalan's Wrass Attributable tS Woman's
Ignorance.

VIZ. That never. since the creation, has woman
beet allowed her proper place, in respect to intel
leciilal cultiyaiion and that from this cause mas
proceesed nearly al our wrongs.
The question hare arises, what Is her proper
place am not prepared TO say that j, is in all
respects equsi footing with man; but DO
say that the great aror in female education has
been lack of that fhofough discipline of mind
whieh universally places the well educated man
on sucg ~ intellectual elevation above the other
sex
In ROOF need oaly to refer to the we'll
known fact that, at the very time when boys and
girls have just laid the foundation for good edu-
caricn Sin which, general thing, the girl ex-
GELS 1hs boy, at the age they are separated;
lie 10 acquire by long eontin Ied course Of untr-
ing application, those mental habits which are
not % leave him during his life, and which Of
countless value TO those who consider solid ac-
quircuents superior to fashionable frivolity she,
perhapf TO spend a term or two at a fashionable
boarding school, whose yeql mental labor would be
IS great a wonder as real kindness OF heart sim
p.city Of manners. She has now finished her ed
acalioH5 and is ready to commence life But what
Is her zeal information! What are her mental
habits l. II any wonder that with such training
as ihisxwoman has been considered as deficient in
mental endowmcnts And is it any wonder that
that brf5her, when in after life united 10 partner
Of THIS stamp, and surrounded by such grade of
lernaie requirement, should, when he sits in the
iegs:-t,ye assembly, help to pass such laws as are
70 be fshfnd on the pages Of nearly every statute
book in the nation Laws which assume that
females are By no means capable of being entrust-
ed Hahsthe care Of property on the death of their
husband3 but the major part of it must be placed
Beyond heir reach or certainly they will itter it
away.
II would here pause 70 do honor TO Wisconsin
legislators; for, in the present state of public
iImcnt, il was rnagna,inloes in them to secure wo
man : rights 10 the extent they have, both in the
bill for The protection of property, and in the Ii
censc law. ] think they deserve the gratitude of
our especially for the last It is probable that
the frs. will not affect the generality, even of
married. females; for, as we look over society we
generally find in the common ranks of life (Which
| are the most numerous that instead of having
patrimony or legacy of any kind, the young mar
ried couple commence life with very little of this
void goods. But then, how often do we see them
/ by industry and economy, selfdenal and perse-
yereBee, gradually Surrounding themselye. with
all the comforts and many OF the uxuries of life,
| mutually and equally bearing share in the ac-
/ QUESTION OF them. / am now speaking Of a diff
lerent case from the alluded to above in which
the " lie bear but small share in the acquisi
ton Of vealth, from deficiency in her education
l,,Lo ,Lo
and requirements
Les SUCH men make laws for their own wives,
as plcases them. But the misfortune is, that such
men Eaa.e laws for all-and this worthy couple
in middle. life, who have no,y we will suppose be
come comparatively independent, suddenly
separatei by has death. lie has had no time to
make will there is a family Of children; and
now the Jaw steps in and says to the stunned and
sorrossis widow, but one-third of this property
which yhu have helped your husband to acquire,
belongs 10 you-although You and your husband
nave earaed it, penny by penny, and you know
exactly bow you came by it, yet it would not do
70 entrus; il to you. Women are not capable of
managing their own affairs, and there are plenty
Of men tiained to the employment of taking care
OF dead laen's property, who eager for a job
and you ,aust let them do it upon shares.
Now suppose that instead Of the husband it had
been tie wife who had died. Would we hear of
any division of property-oi parcelling it out TO
ham A.ad why this Difference In reply, it is
often sait that the children must have some prop
eety secuscd to them, now their father is dead
Bat, l wo:.ld ask, has the rnother generally less
regard l,r the welfare of ter children than the
father 1t is said she will marry again, and the
property twill be put in possession of another
Bat, does not man do TINS very thing twice
Throughout community, where woman does it
oscEt Foes he not marry, and put into the pos
session ofsa stranger, this very property, which
his first wiie has herself out in helping him
to acq,irda And who finds fault with thata
But suppose now we take the case of poor
widow wRo has a large family Of little ones, and
only property enough to support them while the
husband was living by the use of the whole of it
Now il there should happen 10 be a few hundred
dollars worth of the whole, the estate must be
seized and two thirds of it wrested from her; nor
mast She use it, although she might nave to beg
/ little TO support her family. l have known an
instance o; this kind
Now, Why has all this inconsistency and oppres.
sien been allowed. age after age, without any one
to protest against it, or to demand a change =
Simply because they who have been the objects OF
It aaye been so destitute of intellectual training
am: 50 unaccustomed to think Tor themselves, that
the thought of questioning what their lords have
seen fit to decree would be almost objectionable
Now, charge these two wrongs upon the 9TH
er sex Siz oppression by statute, and oppression
by monoPolizing all the really profitable employ
meats 20 themselves and affirm that the reason
men have power TO do these things, is the igno-
rance Of woman, compared wlth the other sex
bur for the gtalt of his ignorance remember, do
nos hold man accountable bus triie more than
woman. Ii seems as though man, having tasted
the sweets of science, might have exerted himself