The new Northwest. [volume] (Portland, Or.) 1871-1887, 1871-09-22
Mr.. Greeley Course on the Woman Ques-
ton,


tion.
If anybody suppOses that we are want
ing in respect for Mr.. Horace Greeley,
he knows little of the more than COM
mon affection andreverence which we
have always entertained for this honest
and noble man.
When, therefore, we say, as we frank
ly do, that the course Of the Tribune on
the woman question seems to US daily
grslvitatiOn farther and faster toward
the darkness of the middle ages, we are
not making n willing but an unwilling
criticism on n Journal which, instead of
being the chief hindrance, ought to be
the best help, to the cause of wOman's
enfranchisement.
Outside of the Roman Catholic church,
we do not know n man so backward in
his views, on all that pertains to the
status of woman, rs Mr.. Greeley. He
holds for instance, that there ought to
be no divorce at all-nOt for any crime,
even the worst. If his ideas on this sub
ject were moulded into the legislation
of the land, they would require the re-
construction of the statue-bOOk of every
State OF the Union, save South Carolina.
He holds, too, that if man marries and
his wife dies, there should be no second
marriage-on the ground that such a
union would eomplicate the marital re-
Iations of the original parties in the
other world-althOugh wiser authority
than Mr.. Greeley has taught Us that
ain heaven there IS neither marrying
nor giving in marriage"
I Mr. Greeley's unreasonable tenets on
these points, if they We're enforced by
civil statute or by public opinion, would
/ bear like CALLING despOtism on millions
of human hearts.
/ 1t is these views which underlie all
I the criticisms that the Tribune 50 ruth
/ lessly and rudely makes on Woman
/ Suffrage, and on all the social questions
connected Herewith. \ bitter fountain
cannot give forth sweet waters. Peo-
pie who imagine that Mr.. Greeley will
one day veer round to Woman Suffrage
do not understand that he must first
change his fundamental convictions OF
the proper moral relations which should
| suhsiSt between husband AMI wife
7 not only in this world but also in the
e next.
e Mr.. Greeleys notion of no divorce 70
d any cause, not even for adultery or an!
a other crime, and his twin notion OF II
g second marriage after the first Is dis
:, solved by death, are n brace of theOrie
e which, on account of their absurdit
e and folly, deserve to have no place l
the liberal thought of an enlightene
:, age, but which nevertheless have lei
e to the latter years of the Tribune bale
: ful conservatism which makes L
: sometimes think that its editor ma
e yet be tempted to end his life in a MOI
r, astery.
$ Mr.. Greeley is a man of 50 muc
T catholicity that we are impatient {
u seeing in him any taint of narrOwnes.
His proper place is at the head of tn
d progressive thought of the present ag,
e But on the woman question, he is nor
e hOpelessly wrong than any other of il
q opponents whom we have ever me-
s Our esteem for him is so warm and dee
that we would rather these words weI
e spoken of almost any other man. Bu
e he is a dangerous enemy to a eaus
ie which needs faithful friends, and W
have no excuse for not striking him
blow which he deserves.-T Iilton
Golden Age.