Wisconsin tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1847-1854, 1850-06-21

For the Tribune.
Mn BLIss-Permit stranger to offer some
thoughts suggested by discovering from time 10
time. in your otherwise excellent paper, that in
justice towards our sex which is common to near
ly all men. On the doings of the female conven-
ton lately held in Ohio, l make no comment.
had intended expressing my thoughts TO you before
! saw that notice. 1t is very une that where any
great wrong exists in society, there is natural
tendency in the human mind to right it; and it Is
not strange that there should be- in this case, as
well IN all reforms strong tendency to ultra
ism. The injustice OF which / complain has been
SO long pracuced-is so common and so interwo-
ven with the very structure OF society, that It is
submitted to in silence, and probably by many Of
US scarcely realized 1t IS however, not less real.
| As l have made a slight charge against your
paper, | will specify to what | aIlude, and then
state some things which | consider the ground
work of our wrongs
! In the first place. Sir, you fall in with the
gentlemanly practice of ridiculing Old Maids, as
a class / have not seen much of it in your pa
per, bnt the world is full OF II, and you coune-
nance it, suppose it is 70 be taken for granted
that you endorse the general sentiment. You may
have forgotten the black and sour spring mention
ed in one of your papers as having just been dis
covered, and the sage conclusion was that some
old maid must have been drinking from it just be-
fore. Now, it can be seen at a glance that as all
the race, both male and female, are greatly infiu-
enced by public opinion, and every young ie-
male, she grows up to womanhood, discovers
this general sentiment in respect to those who may
happen TO remain single, she would most natural
ly incline TO avoid a condition which shall all her
life subject her to ridicule. But what do find
in another of your papers 4 string OF advice 10
young ladies to think nothing about nlatrlmony,
and consider It source of misfortune II never
married-intersperced all through with insnua-
tons that most young ladies' heads are full of no
/ thing but beaux and future lovers; and imputing
( the change which takes place in mary girls from
/ being free and companionabe, TO shy and sient,to
their heads getting iuil Of nonsense about love and
so Whereas the true state of the case gen
orally is l think that the freedom and sociab lity
Is Interpreted by the other sex, very differently
from what means, and the poor girl after time
comes to find It out, and it is no wonder a change
/ comes over her.
/ Then again, we find in another paper, thirty
grains OF beauty, which constitute the perfect 10
man, published and copied by you editors as tho
they were important facts. How long will wo-
man consent to be made the plaything Of an hour
or to be admired merely for that winch is not in
itself merItorous2
! come now 10 consider some Of the causes Of
our wrongs; and first, that never since the creation
has generally been aIloyyd her pro per place
IN respect to intellectual cultivation. Some bril-
liant exceptions fash upon us, but they are few
First, It has always been taken Tor granted that
woman, In point OF mental endowments, is INFERIOR
TO man; and secondly, that supposing her MUD
would admit OF equal cultivation, it Is not thought
necessary for her Now, l shall not attempt TO
dIsProve either Of these positions, That the wo-
man, in many respects, is designed to be different
/ from man, fully believe; but that for the most
part both Of these positions have been carried 10
an extreme, l as fully believe And as a distinc-
ton OF this &nd may be called literary oppression,
now adduce It a second ground OF complaint.
Any one who merely chances at the present state
OF society cannot but be sensible that nearly all the
really profitable empoyments are monopolized by
the men, and IN many instances precisely the same
! amount of labor, performed by female, receives
less than half the recompense that's warled to a
male. Now, | affirm that this last oppression re-
suits from tAe first, because Kao,cleda Is Do,cer
and man havin. monopolized thisha in his pow
ct to sway public opinion and perpetuate uniusl
public sentiment, as on all other subjects, where
TIE interests of the two sexes seem to clash
feel sure, however, that brighter day is dawning
on all these points, but in proportion as the day
dawns, do we discover the deep darkness in which
we have CROPPED for ages In conclusion | would
say that if any thing said here should seem severe
about your paper, beg you TO understand that
lmPute nothing to any worse motive than want OF
reflection. The ideas advanced are the result OF
long continued observation and reflection, and
should you see fit to give them to the world, ]
should hope they will be some benefit to that half
OF the human family, whose cause they advocate
l..
Jour correspondent viii discover, perhaps, a
slight variation from the original, which arises
from the manuscript having been torn. We have
endeavored to retain the sentiment and trust " e
done her no injustice. She will ever be welcome
TO place III our columns En- TRl
There is only one thing worse than igno-
rance, and that is conceit. OF all intractable
fools, an oveFwise man is the worst. You
may cause idiots to philosophise-you may