Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1866-02-16
Deferred Locals.

hhc- CNlrchkLh ON NOkANs RIOHra
Ars Jane q; Swissheim, the spunkiest ffttl,
woman on the continent lectursd the other
night bf fore tie Ladies National Relief Asso-
eSation" on "Woman-A Politician"
Mrs. SwIsshelm is seIf-possessed On tne
stand, enunciates clearly, and rs thus a very
good representative Of womanis ability 20 hold
aer own with man as public speafer,-out,
bless their dear souls, the woman speaker~.ees
alter all have 10 make a bad imi tatiou OF mnn,s
oratorical wrinkles. For one thing. they don't
know what to do with their hands Mrs.
oWlsshelm, for instance, essayed more than
once 10 throw her hands behind her In an easy
ehS,emanly sort of a way, but lt didn't work
tniin :, look natural-wanted the manly coat
She said there was a very GENERAL feeling in
tnls country that all direct politicai actien a.
Sno,', 40 ~. ,nst woman who Aspires 10
KNOW or care anything about politics uusexee
herself and becomes a legitimate oh;e-t Of so.rss
abuse. Any interest sne takes in The ,nhSs~, ~
regarded as an impertment meddbnr ygi,h =
matter which does not concern her 90 -.
disposition thus 10 meddle is looked nnon -
modern invention Of women's rights conven
mons. Than this there can b. no greater MS
take, unless we except the current degu ttton %
the word politics. She proceeded 70 nrotest
against Horace Msnn's definition. who pro
nounced it a stygian pool so corrupt that
women must avoid it inevitable moral
degradation. She accepted Webster's denim
uCn. II WAS indeed as he defined IT, n SUBJECT
OF vast extent and importance so vast as 10
peImeaie and control every conceivable human
interest and relation, and as such woman had
a proper share IN lt. IL was politics which
iAAGt Tue " aT ana was Responsible Tor All tla
carnage and misery. The ignorance and in-
difference 10 all questions Of statesmauship
which have 30 sedulously been cultivated IN
the wCmen of the free States was the real cause
Of the fatuity with which Northern men disre-
gaTded the warnings Of the comm earthq make
They were deprived OF woman's intuiiion-her
QUICKER perceptions m Judging questions on
which tue existence OF the Government, the
safety OF every home depended. and the want
OF this natural alliance cost Us lust the war.
ana IN prosecuting ~ millions Of money and
thousands fn.a
ration OF southern women with the men OF
their section enabled them 10 proloug war for
years which would have ended IN as many
months II southern women had known or
cared as little about the questions n issue as
did the women n the North. Win all the
Tidicule cast upon Northern .'isms, /" "Woman's
Rights aSitStiOns," &c, by Southern men, the
women Of That section are as thorough poll
ucIans as the men. Entirely relieved from tie
domestic crudEery which enCUmbers Northern
women, they have given their time aud atten-
uon 10 TIE science Of Government. and have
governed not only their own States but the
Cnited States, not only their own statesmen
but The statesmen of the North, whose wives
and daughters were AT home Sin womans
sphere, darning stockings" while Southprn
misses and ma;rons were moulding the desu-
MES OF the nation.
Southern men have gratfied their love of
power by expressing the negro and ruling
Goughfaces, while northern men have graf
lied theirs by keeping their wives aud daugh-
teIs on "a level with, or rather below. free re-
grOcs, idiots and Indians. All Of the properly
rlghis OF wives, wruEg from northern men
4 few OF the States, after an agitation i'm which
womanhood was humbled aud manhood dis
Sraced, were freely accorded by southern men
long before that agitation began. southern
women placed on a property equality with
the men, and taken into their political ccun-
ellis. have been and are the soul OF the south-
ern system, while northern politics, deprived
OF this intelligent cooperation, have had a
preponderance Of brain over heart power. The
heart was beginning 10 assert itself because
the eXigencies Of the war had forced northern
al man aud Fr.r. 49,
tics. In every northern home, for five sad
years, the policy Of the Government, past.
present, and future, have been fireside ques-
lions, and we see the result in the evidences
that the history of northern douChfaceism has
reached lis fms. Had the women of the north
been taught TO think OF and take interest an
politcal questions that history wOuld never
have been written, and no President would
have found in any Congress enough unbaked
bread In the faces OF northern members 20
make one little doughnut. No wonder South
erners, with their shrewd female allies, used
every SHAFT Of ridicule 10 keep northern women
eut of politics. A northern member, whose
Wife was al home in the kitchen, was much
more easily managed than If she had been az
his side, interested in has business
While the united South was saying 20 evil
',be thou am good" the divided north was
sleeping in indifference. While southern ,No-
men were prompting TO treason, northern Wo-
men were securely rallied in wOman's sphere,
and could rot perceive the inseparable con-
nection between the House Of Congress and The
kitchen fire
MRS. SwIsshelm here cited numerous has.
toried examples 10 show that women have the
right and ability To take direct and positive
action in the Government Of nations, and en-
larged upon the history Of notable ..strone-
minded women Of the past. particularly
isabella Of Spain" whose biography she
2ave IN brief but graphic style, concluding thar
portion Of her address with the question: "Is
here an instance on record Of a man doing
more for the public welfare % Yet Isabella
made all her husbands shirts, and had the
tact and delICacy 70 sooth his iealousies and
hlue his weaknesses, 50 as 20 make him appear
respectable. She said il has become fashiou-
able 10 designate as strOn minded those wo-
men who neglect or deSpise the feminine en-
picyments as duties o. home, but this was a
sad mistake. and the woman who fancies that
u is any mental superiority 10 The mass OF her
sex which makes her dlsinclined 70 sew on
buttons, darn stockings or tend children has
made false estimate of her abilities The
duties Of Congressman are no more honorable
thar those ef the household. and the stronger
a woman's mind, the better VIII she perform
them.
There never was and never will be any great
political reform which has not been or will NOT
be brought about by women medduRg in poli-
tics. Man alone is Incapable Of faccomplishing
any great moral object If men could believe
that honesty is the best policy, they woala
haYe no objection 70 women and angels becom-
ing politicians.