National Republican. (Washington City (D.C.)) 1872-1888, 1877-05-12
TINE SC.iRLET LETTER.
The Lessons Drawn by n woman-The Dis
cRses OF Society. and How TO Cure Them

The Lessons Drawn by u woman-The Dis
eases Of Society, and How to Cure Them.
The diseases of society can, no more than
corporal maladies, be prevented or cured without
being spoken about In plain langunge.-JohH STU.
art MN.
Through the past week the columns Of the pa.
pers have been tiied with accounts of the twin
sisters, prostitution and iniauticlde Noticing
three cases Of the latter, which have recently
come to the knowledge Of the police, the state.
mcnt Is made that at is a common thing to nnd a
dead baby In the sewers or ash heaps" and the
police are called upon to "check this crime by
bringing the offending parties to Justice" It Is
quite common affair to bring one Of the parties
to Justice, and It wOuld he amusing, IL that was
poss ible In this connection to notice the fort
which are made 10 hunt down the "upnaiursI
mother"
Five or six years ago. In tho Quaker city Of
Philadelphia, young English woman was dis
covered in q room In n tenement house, bare OF
table, chair or bed, upon the hoOr, with her dead
baby, which she denied having killed or knowing
the time or cause OF its death. She was ARE sted
by men, tried and convicted of infanticide by
men, and would have been hung by men if some
New York ladies had not, through the newspa-
pers, became interested In her case. and inter
Tered In her behalf.
was present at a large meeting at which
city for tho purpose Of obtaining funds Tor her
needs and assisting her to return to Engl
These ladies who visited her found her stilf quite
III, confined In CELL with u damp stone floor,
and destitute OF shoes, all her small earnings
having been given to a male attorney who had
been OF no assistance TO her on her trial. She
was awaiting sentence and execution, determined
I, die without revealing tho name OF the father
If her child. She said there had been trouble
enough. lie was to be married soon, and she
would not ruin another woman's life. She gave
her name as Hester Vaughn, which she said was
assumed, as she did not wish her friends in Eng.
land to know OF her disgrace.
It'll not likely ste ever read of Hester Prynne,
the heroine OF Hawthornes scarlet Letter, but
It is not improbable tnat In this latter part OF the
nh ant n aantn Ia H.. a. -
other party to this crime was one higher in
position and authority. Even had Hester Vaughn
disclosed tho name, Il would have been an easy
and common thing to nullify her statement.
l can see no possibility OF justice being done in
such cases until women stand side by side with
man In administering the laws which govern
both. Tho treatment Of man as n sufferer and a
criminal should not be LEFT entirely to men, much
less should that OF woman. II our criminal laws
different. For ages woman has quietly and
tender YIN hospital, prison and asylum-ailevi.
ated the results OF sin. Since Eve, Of Eden, in
box upon the world woman has seemed TO shrink
from further Investigation, and has apparently
allowed man e possess himself Of all Of the:irut
The Adams have only needed to assume an air
OF superior wisdom, and cry "snahes" for wo.
hswever, she is growing FESTIVE under the taunt
of having been the cause Of all the sin and sal.
fsring In the world, OF having her sacred once OF
the ''mother OF criminals" Tho light is begin.
ming to dawn upon her mind that she may per.
haps retrieve herself by aiding In tho salvation
and redemption Of the race.
From time immcmorial man has represented
Justice as q woman blindfolded. To-day woma n
demands that tho bandage shall be removed and
she be allowed, with an unobscured vision, to
bring her motherly, wiiely. slsterly nature to
bear upon the evils from which the race Is sui.
iering.
Never on customs oiled grooves
The world to q higher level moves,
But CRATES and grlnds with effort hard
Der granite boulder and hinty sha'd."
ELLEN H. SHELpoN