The new Northwest. [volume] (Portland, Or.) 1871-1887, 1875-09-17
Trannps.

Iramps,
Goodness merey" exclaimed my
friend, Mrs. Flareup; "whatever is to be
done with these tramps? They are a
greater nuisance than the Woman Suf-
fragists, and they are bad enough; but
these tramps, they are at our back doors
and front doors, on our porches and in
our wood-sheds, sleeping in our barns
and stables, and always sticking out
their dirty, idle hands begging for cold
victuals, old clothes or money, morning,
noon, and night, as if itwere the busi-
ness of US widows to keep free boarding
houses and old clothes stores for their
laziness and degradation. 1 can hardly
get my own coffee poured out in the
morning before am called upon to
heed their wants-the big, strong, inn
pudent beggars. If had my way, I'd
have every one of them shut in the
poor-house. I'd teach them to tramp
to some effect"
tMy dear Mrs. Flareup, why don't
you have your way? These tramps
that go their rounds, averaging two or
three day, are men; and hear all the
men complaining of scarcity of help
why don't you women join together and
use your powers of persuasion to some
purpose to abate this nuisance They
say women rule"
isRuleP I should think they did !
Rule? Haven't been talking and per-
suading for years, about this thing and
the licensed dFam-shops that help along
all the trouble? And what good has
come of it? Everything gets worse
and worse, and don't see any help for
it.n
''suppose all women could vote, do
you think
"Oh, nonsenseI Don't talk to me of
women's voting; what good could that
do? There are as many bad women as
bad men; and the more bad we have
at the political pump, the worse things
will get.n
care there as many women tramps as
men ?'
mo, indeed; not one to ten, thank
goodness p'
GAS many women drunkards as men2n
"Of course not; the world would come
TO an end if there was.n .tr
"Do you not really think, Mrs. Flare
up, that there are more good, virtuous
women in every community, who would
vote for good morals and good habits,
than there are bad ones P ost
"Well, yes; but what then2 That
would not put the tramps in the work.
house, or keep them off the streets.n
"Iim not so sure about that. Bishop
Haven says that only two-fifths OF. the
legal voters stand on the side of temper
ance and good order in the United
States, while four-fifths of the women
would be counted on, always and every
where, as the advocates of peace, sobri-
ETY., chastity, and all things good, SO far
as they know Now, suppose all wom-
en- had the right of suffrage, and the
four-fifths of good women Joined forces
with the two-fifths Of good men. Don't
you see goodness would be in the ma
jority and in spite Of the three-fifths
majority of bad men, and one-fifth of
bad women, We might hope for better
things" -. =.
"Well, yes. 1t does look that way.
But what has all that to do with
tramps ?n
"Only this: There is scarce tramp
in the nation but can vote, if he chooses
to take the proper means to qualify
himself. And there are said to be fifty
thousand of them (and probably there
are ten times that number) standing
ready to sell their votes to the whisky
party whenever occasions, offer, while
you and I, who labor and strive all the
years, as best we know, to raise our sons
and daughters as good citizens, have no
power to preserve ourselves or society
against this army of evil, only our influ-
ence, which you have declared SIS of no
avail You would, if you could, shut
all the tramps in the poor-house. Thus
you would make them in few months
legal voters, for every demagogne to use
for his purpose on election days, to
cOunteract all your efforts of reform, if
h oh - IL i Al
est, vilest, most idle and ignorant, can
be made tools to destroy the work of the
best and truest hearts of the nation.
For any male citizen who is not an
alien, idiot, lunatic or felon, may be
taken out of these asylums called poor
houses, where your taxes and mine
help support them, to vote for liquor sa-
looms and licensed brothels, or Rnyother
madness that our depTaved civilization
chooses to demand.n
"Well, I suppose you think, you
Woman Suffragists, that all would be
sweet and bland as cream if you could
only vote"
ttBy no means. We believe in no
such extravagance. But we do believe
that Justice and right will make the
world better, and that injustice and
wrong will, nay, must have the oppo-
site effect. And we do believe it is but
justice that women should help make
the laws that govern them, and be al
lowed the positive power as we'll as the
pursuasive influence, to try with all
their force to redeem the world from the
evils that deform and degrade it. The
right to try, and to succeed, if possible,
and, if they fail once or ten times, to try
again, and correct their errors by the
wisdom gained from failures, and thus
TO grow themselves into higher,
stronger, and purer life. m
Cramps have only furnished me
with text for this little sermon on
woman's rights. Please, dear Mrs.
Flareup, think of 1t, and perhaps you
Will conclude to help US, instead of TAX