The new Northwest. [volume] (Portland, Or.) 1871-1887, 1874-12-18
A WORD TO THOSE WHO HAVE ALL
TIE RIGHTS THEY WANT.

To THE EDITOR OF THE NEW NORTHWEST:
1 was recently somewhat amused at
hearinga lady remark that she ''thought
it little too much for 4 woman to be |
running about the country lecturing as
Mrs. Duniway did. For her part, she
thought that it was a woman's place to
do the family cooking, washing, sewing
and mending, and that If she did these
things, her duty was accomplished and
her rights assured. She should be
ashamed TO preach Woman's Rights"
/ ventured to remark that perhaps
Mrs. Duniway with her talent was able
TO earn more than sufficient to pay 9TH
ers for doing these things, while she
worked at what was to her much more
congenial employment
My conversation with this woman re-
minded ME very forcibly of circum-
stance in another part of the country,
where Mrs. Duniway was regarded as
something fearful by one of the milk
and-water women that infest every To-
cality more or less. This woman was
considered by her neighbors a remarka-
bly, amiable, meek and proper specimen
of femininity-a pattern woman, in
fact. The true state Of the case was that
this model-whom,f for convenience sake,
we will call Mrs. A.-was amiable be-
cause she had not force of character to be
anything else; even-tempered, because
she always kept in one groove; n great
worker, because that was all she knew.
Had her husband told her that Robinson
Crusoe was the author of the Holy
Scriptures, she would have devoutly be-
lieved him. She would sit for hours
telling with great complacency that
'she didn't want any more rights. Her
I husband loved her and did all he could
I for her comfort; that he hated strong
minded women, and no man liked them,
and that he preferred her company to
that of all other women in the world"
So far so good; but it did put rather a
/ ludierous face upon this easy, laekadaisi-
/ cal nonsense, when her auditorsc allied
I to mind what was apparent to every one
in the vicinitS S-except her who chad so
many rights"-that Mr.. a. was very
much smitten with one of the strong
minded sisterhood, a lady of sound
sense, sterling worth, unblemished rep
utation, and well-versed in the various
''ologies'' of the day. Mr.. y. being in
/ tellectually starved at home, found the
society of this lady very charming, and
never lost chance of attending a socia-
! BILE or other evening entertainment
where he thought it possible she would
be present. Special meetings of the
lodges to which he belonged served as
an excuse TO his wife. Evenings when
neither parties nor entertainments
promised him glimpse of the strong
minded one, he would remain at home
to hear the weak-minded lady rehearse
her exploits in the kitchen and nursery;
by way of contrast, telling her inter
ested lord that Mrs. B. must be awful
lazy; she never got her washing out till
two o'clock, and that she actually had
but one sheet on the line; that Mrs. C.'s
] llANlt DON ndu lnO OullOlS bll Ills ldChElf
and went to school that way. While
indulging in these edifying remarks,
she would be industriously cutting up
and sewing together little bits of red,
green and yellow calico, into what she
called her Jacobs ladder" "Rising
SUM-" or "Dahlia" quilt, holding up now
and then to his bewildered vision a nom
descript conglomeration of colors, bear
ing faint resemblance to some impossi-
bic flower, and forcing him to declare that
il was a perfect dahlia, twice as natural
as those growing by the south window.
Can we wonder that be contrasted the
two women? And which one would be
most likely to suffer by the contrast ?
Certainly not the angel of the lodge.
I would not have wives imagine that
their husbands generally attend lodge
in that way; Mr.. A. was probably an
exception. But TO these marvels of fem
inine meekness and docility, I would
say, don't flatter yourselves that your
husbands and friends do not tire of your
insipidity; and don't imagine that be-
cause woman has strength of mind
enough to rebel against the subsection
that usage and society has forced upon
hsr, that she is destitute of. the social
and domestic qualities that elicit love
and respect.
The higher we are exalted by being
accorded equal rights with men, the
more perfect wives and mothers do we
become-the more intelligent and pleas
ant companions will we make.
Wishing you abundant success in
your efforts to bring about this much
desired state of affairs, believe me truly
yours for FAIR PLAY.
Portland, Nov. ., 1874.