Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1870-07-30
Cox on Corsets.

Cox on Corsets.
A Washington correspondent says Sun
set Cox rs one ofthe cleverest men in the
House. His sallies Of wit are wont to Sc,
the House in roar, and on no subject is
he more happy than the tariff. The way
he protests against the tax on corsets il
good; here it is:
There is bill before the House of Rep
rcsentativc, reported by Messrs Schenck
Kelley, Blair, Mccarthy, Hooper and May
nard, to impose national tax on corset,
and hoop skirts. Against this tax the
free women Of America should promptly
protest Is there to be nothing too sacred
for the searching hand Of the tax -gatherer
Is there no limit to the reach of the As
SCISSOR! The Committee of Ways and
Means have already levied tax on stock.
ings and garters, and must the privacy Of
women be further invaded? If women
have one right which men are bound to
respect more than another, it is the privacy
Of the bosom and Of the surroundings OF
their persons.
Did the committee who reported this
bill know what they were doing? Did
General Schenck intend to direct the Com.
missioner of Customs and his deputies to
thrust hand into every gentle bosom and
gather a tax therefrom Did he not
know what this was reverse of all the
tax laws Of mankind in every age aud every
cline?
We know that iron has long since en-
tered the soul of Kelley, and that he de-.
votes his energies to steel, but had the
man mother? Had he ever sweet.
heart? And did he know that he wa.
placing tax around the forts of human
life ? Did any member Of that committee
not raised on willingly propose
to collect this ad ralorem tax in districts
rendered dear to human memory since
Eve nursed her first born, or Einnie Ream
shaped the bust of Helen? Had Mr..
Hooper no recollection Of early days. when,
it was bliss to rest his head upon heart
all fondly his own? And could he, re-
collecting this, propose to permit the tax
gather to extort revenue from the hal
lowed spot? Let him ask himself what
would have been his feelings had lie dis.
covered his darling in tears, and found
that her distress was because she had not
paid her corset tax"
Are there no men in Congress who will
lift their voices in favor of untaxed corscts
and untaxed hoops? Will General Farms.
worth be silent while this outrage is per-
pctratins, and vote to tax the vcstmcnts
that enclose the shrnes Of beauty, purity
and love? viii the stalwart hero from
Massachusetts, (Mr. Butlcr) vote this tax
and thereafter look any woman straight in
the face? Will he, who has Identified
woman's vocation with Jominis art of war,
wear this outrage on his sleeve for "daws
to peck at?" Will Mungcn not point cut
to the Democratic party the duty of repu-
dating tax so attrocious? Will the gen.
tlcman from Onondaga, (Mr. Mccarthy
in his zeal to protect salt, impose this tax
on the great dairics of nature? Will the
great champions Of American labor and
production vote for this bill to encircle
with specific and ad valorcm taxes the in.
fant manufactures of the land
The women of America have no repre-
sentation, and they have no right to protest
against this unprecedented taxation They
submitted to be taxed upon their shoes
and slippers, their hosiery, their dresses,
their shawls, hats and feathers, and every
bit Of lace and ribbon. but there is limit
to even female submission. Around the
sanctity of their corsets they will draw
line. Shall there be tax placed upon
those emotions and throbbings which have
been the delight of men in all ages? The
tax should be resisted, and tyrant men be
taught that the hand which seeks revenue
in that quarter may find the revolver or
the dagger. 1t only required Marat to
produce Charlotte Corday, and the Schencks
and Kelleys may read that history with
profit Let the woman's conventions take
the ballot cry of " free corsets, free hoops ~
and, until they gain the latter, let the men
who vote this tax be denied all knowledge
Of female habiIiments, save what they get
from the clothes.lines.
CURE FOR DIPTHERIA.-Rear Admiral
Farquhar communicates to the British
Colonist, of Victoria, prescription for
liberated or diptheric sore throat, which
he says has proved very efficacious in his
neiuhborhood in Scotland II is ne fol.