The daily Gate City. [volume] (Keokuk, Iowa) 1855-1916, 1868-11-20
THE GAZE CITY


Cs,ne,sv, deOosva en SesanAss Ra6Aaa
Mrs O'Do~d writes t. Ask mr. opinion p
. the womsna rights questions and nAely.a3 y
FIRMS me al the end Of her letter that she hs
6gned the petition 70 fasliamestip fsvor 9
Nat object-a course, an free TO admit
which savesa deal of troubis 70 eacbHfsus
Not that stFect 70 ssy that would OA~ NJ
thing like resissaace. or evvaRsosea51Deo
on the subject. would a soon think, II
nd sest 10 ~ Hbnss, q moving re4sa
e tbs new reform act IT'S always our NE u
England TO hase eous measure carried ont
side NJ Iegniaanrs ~ : 44sefat 1elL -
whom to this wild shout Of reclamation y.
can add tie shili vpicescf osr rives and
n,otlsrs-in.l.w the effect il a. grand as onl
OF those disonrds in "Robertc il ldAvoio."
The ladies' have examined the matter eth
nolcfically, m,theiically, morally, anslyti
eaiy, and, j believe, Anaiomicsiig, aud hare
arrived 1T the Arm ccnclusion that sisey arr
our equals, and something more. Far be i
from lae 10 offer word Of dissent 10 tbs Zoe
irine. | have been-ou Of regard 10 Mrs.
@ D.. : feeling. | won't cay how many years
married, and am resdy 70 declare that Il g
more occurred to me TO dispute supremacy
with my wife, to move an amendment TO q
bill with her name ON IL, Or offer even faHti
Opposition to an opinion declared by her,
than should think OF wrestling the tiiIer cut
of s,eersrnan'a hand in a rocky channel
aud assume all the responsibilities Of piiotage
in difficult roadstesd. am in nowise a.
shsmed of this confession. ! speak for sell
aud fellows. So say we oil of usi--at least
all Of US who put any value on truth.
Use and Custom, stronger than all law,
have decided this point We occasionally
try 70 make TORY jesu on it, or TO laugh II
the unhappy contrere who has been made q
more conspicuous victim of the systein, and
w call him heD-pecked, but ia our heart OF
hearts We know that We have felt the bsak
ourselves, and that in the matter of top
feathers there is not much to boast Of. lam
not going to protest against an ancient end
honored practice. On the whole believe
that, like great many other seeminG Anom-
allies, the system has worked we'll. Many Of
rs carry home from our intercourse with our
fellow men sort Of bumptious pethors that
needs dep1stion. We have been sascessful
in this or that conflict; We have won = cart
notice from the Saturday, ReUiesc. or We have
carried . motion against Gladstone, or We
have out-talked Sergeant Anybody-snd
these things call for moral blood.letting, and
they get it
1t is only fair TO admit that the ladies havs
used power, on the Whole, With marvellous
and with skill that shows THAT
tectron of system that almost raises is 10
the rank of science.
What an inioleranh self-asserting, conf
dent, and pretentious set of beings we should
have become but for it dare not stop 70 con-
,idsr What moral coDgestions might have
occurred but for the use OF the alternative Of
there il really no saying: and
aow. seeing these things, admitting these
hings, and accepting thsss things, would
lsk, is il WISE in The women to surrender an
position for possible and very
doubtful advantage? Do they believe that
{ once We admit them to an equality In
he wide arena of life We shall 70 back
o accept the mild despotism of their rule
It home? | think in this they reckon
Without their host. II is mainly in the fact
hat womans lives are not our liv~s-thAt
heir motives, their Instincts, their modes Of
b fought aud modes of dgeinent are not ours
hat lies this ls.iiuence over ne. We have no
ense of humiliation in yielding to reasons
which ore OF ourselves could not have EN-
,loyed against US. Their quicker suscepti
,ilities, their finer instincis, their greAter
Elasticity, and that subtlety that leaves them
n a measure independent OF logic, are won
lerful weapons or home rule. but would be |
orry arms in the coarse conflict OF ou,-of- |
loor life. They say they wasn't 10 be lawyers,
I'D doctors, ard civil engineers, and mem
,ers Of parliament and have only 10 reply
hat man cannot hold office under the
rown ssd present bimself for admission to
he House. A wqp an cannot preserve that
PECULIAR position she holds amongst US. with |
II its admitted claims 70 Difference and pro
ec,ion. aud yet become our competitor and
ur rival. Her sway is now und,spnted, and |
might satisfy even in high ambitions We
ccspt the rough work OF fife very willingly !
4 her behalf, and for nothing more willingly |
han that it shelters her from those CALLING |
ccidents those coarse collisions, and those |
airing trisls TO temper which the rough and |
uuble exis,Anee Of man il filed by. Its,
oweyo-, into this arena she nov wsn,sto come
own. will mol deny her capacity for the
nct uuter.
We live in age where there are too many
nd striking proofs of feminine ability abroad
0 risk such rash assertion. What | denur
o 10 that women want to come into an over
tooked market, while they neglect, as they
annot but do, q natural field of Industry. |
oub, greatly If the greediest money maker
mong us wishes to find his wife, on his re-
urn home deep in the share list, brimfnl Of
he price of consols, or Specializing for rise
,r fsll, and | am equally hard Of that our
.gerest politician wants to have the test Act
si,h his tea, or cares for the compound
at the domestic hearth rng.
! could thoroughly we'll understand this
movement if 1t we're 10 redress the anoma-
Gus condition Of women i'll the humblest
anks of life. whose condition of drudgery is
he reproach and the shame of our civilixa-
ions Any one who has seen the POOR peas.
mt omen in the west or north OF Ireland.
sboring at the severest of all the tolls Of
gathering the sea-weed on
torm-lashed shore and carrying baskets full
# it up rocky cliffs which Cockney would
lot face for the bride of empire-must have
cit that there was case that cries aloud for
sform-here was woman's rights question
hat could appeal to larger aud wider hn-
nanity than ills the chairs of scientific
ongress with pale faced philosophers
Biacktr00l.