The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1869-11-27

.,woMAN's RIGHTS AND HOW TO GET
utTIEM

tsWOMAN'S RIGHTS, AND HOW TO GET
THEM.
From the NJ y. Times.
The Convention just held at Cleveland for
the purpose of organizing what is called
tsNational Womans Suffrage Association"
deserves to be treated in a serious spirit,
chiefly for the reason that its own dclibera-
tions were free from the extravaganza and
buffoonery which usually bring ridicule upon
meetings of the same kind The promoters
of these associations complain very bitterly
of the levity with which their cause is treated
by the press They never seem to be aware
fhat public writer's have done no more than
answer them according to their folly"
They constantly deliver addresses which are
intended to be laughed at, and which, as
general rule are both foolish and vulgar.
Then they profess to be aggrieved at our
sswant of respect" The clown, after chalk
ing his face and cutting antics in the ring,
might as reasonably complain that the spec
tators laughed at him. If the leaders in this
agitation wish to have their demands seri-
ousy discussed, let them first be serious
themselves. We admit, indeed that one
advocate of woman's rights who has recently
published q sort of manifesto in monthly
magazine cannot be accused of tri1ing with
the subject His statement of the case is
brief, and we hope it will prove intelligible
to his 'fair" clients:-''What we wish to
establish is, that the foci of the true social
ellipse are occupied by equal Complementary
parties who give a law to its curvature by
Joint and reciprocal relations, making it the
evenly balanced and exact product of its two
constituents" At first sight this may seem
to exhaust the subject, but a few words in
plain English may, perhaps, be added.
Those who contend that women ought to
be admitted to the exercise of political power
completely mistake the ground on which their
AZ l. . ,I,,
as if men were oppressively depriving women
of their just rights. The letter of Mr..
George William Curtis to the Cleveland Con-
vention would, as o statement of abstract
principle, command almost general assent;
but it does not in any way touch the practical
question Of ''Woman's suffrage" His argu-
ment is essentially as irrelevant to the sub
ject as the 'Fourth of July" rhodomontade
in his concluding sentence; and it is diff
cult to believe that he would ever have ven
tured to address either to an assemblage of
men. He assumes that the reason why
women do not vote is that men are opposed
to it. The truth is quite the other way. The
vast majority of men are really Indifferent to
the whole matter, and very willingly
stand aside to leave women to settle it
among themselves. The difficulty with which
the advocates of woman suffrage" have to
contend is the disinclination of women them
selves to take an active part in political life.
Whenever the majority of women really de-
sire admission to the franchise, they will OBJ
tain it. and it would be fruitless as well as
unjust to oppose their claims. When they
have made up their minds that it is good for
them and for the country at large that they
should vote, they will be admitted to the suf-
frage as a matter of course. But we decline
to accept the opinions and statements of a
handful of "agitators some very eccentric,
some moderate and sensible-as full and
fair expression of the views of q ma jority of
American women. The private experience of
almost every man is, that women are the first
to ridicule the pretensions of those who pre-
tend to be their leaders. Let every family
man take his own home, and see how many
4 Of its female members sympathize with the
claims which are put forward by even the
most temperate Of all the 'women suffrage
party. The proportion would be found anna
. Eingly small.
We contend, therefore, that it is absurd to
attack men as if they were the cause of the
exclusion of women from the franchise.
Women themselves do not want twill in
fact, have nothing to do with it. Mr.. John
Stuart Mill has been unable to prevail against
precisely the same state of feeling in Eng
land He has lent the weight of his name
and the force of his genius to the woman
suffrage" party, and the women of England
firmly persist in standing aloof from him.
Mrs. Howe said at Cleveland that the right to
vote "would at once place woman on the
footing of noble and conceded equality with
men" Now she cannot get her sex to believe
that. They see very clearly that she is wrong
and then, as Mrs Howe cannot move them
she upbraids men for their injustice. AS
% condition of woman's admission to the suffrage
women must show that they desire it. A
present they are heartily opposed to it
ninety mine women out of hundred all Owe
the country would vote against it.; and it il
only beating the air to assail men for STATE
of feeling which most of them approve, bu
which they were not the means of bringing
into existence.
THE INOONIE HAY-WIIY TT 0IIGHT T(