New Orleans Republican. [volume] (New Orleans, La) 1867-1878, 1871-03-25

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EDIToR RErUnLIcAH:
Every problem has IT. real and it, super
fetal edge Lboral ideas are oftsn do
feated because their authors were wanting
in that positiyism which moves with its
proposition to successfnl coDclusion over
the objections Of the negative and con-
seryative mind of the country. Human
slavery was accepted as political, moral,
social aud industrial blessing for years, and
there are mea of to day who will insist that
if the, master was not the gamer, ct least
the negro was such in our old condition,
before the war, when the peculiar institu-
ton was in full bloom. There are other
parties who affirm that the freedom Of the
press is doubtful gain, accompanied as it
is with the RIGHTEOUSNESS and venality of
some Of its members. 1t is almost impossi-
BILE to argue with these conservative classes
about progress and development, because
they constantly refuse to look deeper than
the surface. Tho symbol of the boiling
cauldron, which continually throws the
scum to the surface by the commotion
which it produces in the body Of the liquid
which is being purified by heat, has NO ar
gument for them except to prove that the
entire mass is mixed and impure. They
always use the exception to negative the
rule. If the tide rejects the carcass, the sea
is full Of carrion.
Tn Io,uo <hn rorv;.<ro,.. of a o~<;c,, sue>v<ad
the names of all the women in the town Of
Clarendon on the poll list. This created q
commotion. Some of the women marked
their names off of the list. The husbands of
other women marked the names of their
wives from the list. The result was that
not single woman voted, although all Of
them had the legal right to do 90. In fact,
it was their duty to vote, since that was the
law. Superficial thinkers declare that this
ends the business. The women have re-
jected the electoral privilege. And this
proposition will be made and maintained in
the very face of the fact that in Wyoming
the women have not only voted, but they
have held Office with credit. and have acted
the part of jurors with firmness and excep-
tional honesty.
What conclusion does the hard thinker
arrive ct from the incident in Clarendon +!
Simply this, that the crust of iberalitt has
just been broken, and that the people were
frightened at the idea of moving ahead.
They fed from the new political bath into
which they were invited to plunge. Nothing
else. The majority of the women at present
are afraid to declare their willingness to ex
ercise the electoral franchise, because they
know Mrs. Grundy is watching them. Some
of those who struck their names off of the
poll list feel Indifferent to the matter. This
is nothing to their particular discredit, since
there are thousands of men, said by their
admirers to be the very best men in the
country, who are equally Indifferent to the
duties Of citizenship.
We do not pretend to know anything
about the Clarendon failure more than that
the women failed to do their duty, some by
their own act and some by the act of their
husbands. It strikes us that in this they are
to blame, just as men would have been if
they had been called on to do public duty
and had failed to attend to it. One thing
has been established concerning this ques-
ton affecting the right of women to be re-
cognized as citizens, and that is this: that
where woman is the highest, there govern
ment is the purest and the best. Her intel
ligence and independence affects mankind,
and II ia the dutv Of the American peOnle
to declare what her intelligence and indie
pendence shall consist in hereafter. If she
is to be a favorite and slave, we are going
backward. If she is to be free woman,
and the mother of great men, We can not
put her on too high platform.