The St. Cloud journal. [volume] (St. Cloud, Minn.) 1866-1876, 1870-03-31
7WoNAN's COLUMN. .
FOLLOW HOh LEADERS.

Prom tho Woman's Journal.
.s.Thsn go thirty thousand men,"
shouted the Portuguese, as Wellington,
With a few staff of6cery, rode along tho =
side. The action Of the
leaders, mind, in any direction, has
value out Of all proportion to their num-
bers. In . campaign, there Is . eoun.
oil Of ofioers-Graut aud Sherman and
Sheridan, perhaps. They arc but =
triaing minority, yet what they plan
tho whole army will do; aud such il
the faith in = real leader, that, were all
the restraints Of discipline for the mo-
ment relaxed, the rank and file would
still follow his judgment. What few
general officers see to be the best, to-
day, tho s.rgeants and corporals and pri-
vate soldiers will usually see to be the
beat tomorrow.
10 peace, also, there is silent lea
dership only that, in peace, .s there is
more time to spare, the leaders are q.
peoted to persuade the rank and file,
instead OF commanding them. Yet it
COMES to the same Thing ia the end.
The movement begins With certain
leaders, and if you wish to know tho
future, keep your eye % them. IF you
wish to know what is already decided,
ask the majority hut if you wish to
6oa out what is likely be done next,
ask tho leaders.
1t ~ constantly said that the majority
Of woman do not yet desire to vote, and
it is true. But 70 find out whether
they aye likely to wish for it, We natur-
ally keep our eyes on tho women who
lead their sex. The representative wo7
meu-those who naturally stand for the
rest-thcso most eminent for knovl-
edge and self 4 ;yotion-how do they
view the thing? The raok the file do
not yet demand the ballot, you say j.;
but how is it with the general officers ?
Now it is remarkable fact, about
which those who have watched this
movement for twenty years can hardly
be mistaken, that almost any woman
who reaches certain point Of intel
lectual or moral development will pres
ensly BIZ found desiring tie hallot for
her se1. 1t this be SO, it predicts the
future. It i, tn: Judgment ot Grant
and Si,esn.a'; and .Sh.ri Ian as against
that ii the Average p!ivut. sotiier OF
the goth Infantry. Set aside, if you
please, the specialists Of this particular
sxitation,-thoso who we're first known
to the public through its advocacy
There is no just reason Why they shoult
be set aside, yet concede that for mo
ment. The fact remains that the aLles
women in the land, Those who wer
recognized as ablest in other spheres
before they took this particular dut.
upon them,-are almost inevitably le'
to assume this cross when they reach
certain stage of development.
When Margaret Fuller first cam
forward into literature, she suppose
that literature was all she wanted, ]
was not till she came to write upon v.
mans position that she discovered VIVA
woman needed. Anna Dickinson
when she carried tho vote Of Pennsy
vania for the Republican party, did NC
say, and probably did not sec, that sh
should one day ask the Republican pal
tytog give her vote 10 return. Clar
Barton, driving her ambulance or he
supply wagon at the battles edge, di
not foresee, perhaps, that she shvul
make that touching appeal, when tn
battle was over, implorins her own o.
franohisemeat from tho soldiers sh
had saved from death. Lydia Mari
Chi}a,i Julia Ward Howe, Harrie
Beecher Stowe, Louisa Alcott, came
the claim for the ballot earlier than
million others, because they were tn
Intellectual leaders Of American "
manhood. They saw farthest, becaus
they were in the highest place. The
were the recognized representatives q
their sex before they gave in their I'D
hesion to the new demand. Thei
judgment is as tho judgment q
Grant and Sheridan, whilc Flora Nc
FlimseJ's opinion is as the opinion q
John Smith, unassigned recruit. Bu
if the council Of generals make arrange
ments for battle, the chance is tbs
John Smith will nave to take a hao
IN it, or else run away.
1t il a raro thing for the petition fo
suffrage from any town to comprise tn
majority Of womea in the town.
makes no difference if there are fe,
women in the town who want to vott
there is as much propriety in their Y.
ting as If there were ten millions, 9
long - the majority are equally pre-
tectsd in their right to stay at home
But when tho names of petitioner
come to be weighed as we'll as counted
the character, the purity, the INTEL
genos, the social and domestic value {
the petitioners is seldom deni,d. Th
women Who wish to vote are not tn
idle, the ignorant, the minded
or the vicious, they are not "the dan
gerous classes, they represent tn
best class in the commnnitv vho,