The weekly clarion. [volume] (Jackson, Miss.) 1863-1882, 1872-12-26
sex im s.oliaic-.

a
commented, has attracted 80 much atten
ton that il may be well to place it
more striking passages before our rea
ders:
We confess for ourselve
that there Is nothing which has inspire,
IL with a much distrust of the movement
as the persistence with which It's promo
tiers ignore the influence of the sexua
passion on nearly evey Il ED of human ac
tivity. No people can safely heed tn,
political counsels of persons who take nt
note of this most tremendous of all tn,
social forces. Let us 90 back ever so IA
into the night of the ages, and we find i
there shaping nearly every one OF the prob
lens by which the race has ever since
/ been vexed. GO down as far as we can
4 into the recesses of human character, and
we find it there; it may be enriching and
elevating, it may be dwarfing and de-
! grading, but still active and potential.
There Is no custom or habit which it has
/ not originated or lored; no war migra-
/ ton which has not owed something TO its
| instigation 1t has had to do with the
building up and the downfall of great en-
pires, and the fighting Of great battles.
1t has blasted some OF the greatest names
| Of history, and adorned Others 1t has
| been, in short, the source in all ages of
/ the greatest virtues and foulest vices.
In fact, if history as well as individual ex-
j perience teaches us anything clearly, it
4 IS that no system of society or government
which does not take note ofits tremendous
/ energy can hope for long or prosperous
/ existence. No man can tell what would
| be the effect on such persons as now COM
pose our legislatures if the accession of a
body of women who, in all probability, as
soon as the first excitement and novelty
was over, would devote themselves to the
work of politics. They might be Motifs,
Howcs, and Livermores, but, reasoning
from experience, the great mass OF them
would be-but we will not mention names;
and we should then have added to the cor
ruption OF money, which is bad enough,
a deeper and darker corruption still.
''W hat has passed i'll Washington, in
the case of the Winnie Ream statue, is
enough to set thoughtful people thinking
very hard. We know of nothing against
Miss Ream's character, but there seems
to be no doubt that the serious business
of making statue to public man-the
honoring of whom, at this moment, is a
solemn duty-was in her case committed
by legislators TO young person, and
large sum of public money voted to pay
her who h 3d never made Il statute in her
life, in disregard OF the claims of a dozen
American sculptors of established repu-
tation, under the influence that comes
from curls and bright eyes, and the pats
Of pretty hand and the beseeching tone
Of soft voice. In other words, legisla-
tors have thousand times before,
made asses OF themselves under the in
fuence Of what are called female charms,
but which for the purpose of this discus
sion-which requires exceedingly plain
speaking--we shall call by its proper
name, the sexual passion. Suppose this
influence to be organized and systemized
in the person Of large body of female
members of Congress, and brought to
bear OH land grants, subsidies, tariffs,
charters, and public offices, what kind of
thing would our legislation be? What
kind Of place would the republic soon be-
Come, if every State capital was a stage
ON which female adventures could push
their fortunes cheek by jowl, with Irvings,
and Tweeds, and Alorrisseys? a curious
and striking Illustration, too, Of the CON
slant preocupation of the lower order of
female suffragists, with the probable infu-
ence of this passion on all relations of
men with women, is found in the fact
that they account for hostile comments of
a leading newspaper on their own per-
formances, or those of their favorites, by
ascribng them to the editors having Of
fered his hand and heart unsuccessfully
to divers female agitators, lecturers, au-
thors, and poets Fancy the Washing
ton correspondents. who now so freely as
cribe base motives to the opponents or
supporters of this or that measure, tele-
graphing long speculations as to the prob
able influence of Mr.. Smiths liaison with
Miss Brown on their both voting against
the San Domingo annexation OF the duty
on pig iron, and we shall have some idea
of the sink of iniquity into which false
step in this matter might convert the cap
ital .