The new Northwest. [volume] (Portland, Or.) 1871-1887, 1879-10-02
MRS. KATE CHASE sPRAauF.

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One OF the most outrageous of the
many humiliating false positions in
which married women are placed, is
their state Of legal bondage, if their hus-
bands prove TO be selfish, scottish, tyran-
nical, aud consequently insanely jealous
aud unbearably brutal, instead Of being
magnanimous, sober, democratic and
consequently loving, deserving, unsus-
picious and Trustworthy. No woman
can tell TO a certainty, at the time Of
her marriage, which one Of these speci-
mems OF the genus master she has taken
"for better or for worse" If the latter
the bond is an indissoluble one, a silken
chord, not only surrounding the two
with a network of harmony, but per-
meating every fiber Of each as the years
go on, till neither will voluntarily op-
pose the wishes Of the other. But woe
to the weaker vessel, if the husband
prove to be Of the former class.
The laws Of the country recognize the
uAEUAnA anu " AAE a. bAEn tAAAA AAAE nus
band as that one. They look upon the
home, no matter how or by whom ac-
quired, as the property OF the husband
solely, Of which he is the only Tecog-
nized master and head. When the hus-
band is so nearly perfect, as a man, that
love will make him perfect as a cOnsort,
be will keep the clanking chains of the
law from wearing into the sensitive
conscience and CALLING the good judg-
ment Of his wife by undue interference
with her domestic machinery. But
when, as so often happens, he is the re-
verse Of this, as is evident in the case Of
Ex-Governor Sprague Of Rhode Island,
with whose unhappy domestic relations
the world is at last made familiar, the
wife had better, by thousand odds, be
dead. The newspapers are making
much ado over the revelations in this
case, and yet the situation is neither
new nor uncommon. Women can
readily understand why Mrs. Sprague's
life has been a wearing, unbearable
burden for the past thirteen year," "
when her husband was so drunken, mig
/ gardly, cross, unreasonable and jealous
that she was haunted by q constant fear
lest, under momentary relaxation Of
her vigilance, he would exhibit the
mouomania Of jealousy which would
tarnish her name and place her before
the world in a light that would reflect
dishonor upon herself and children.
Women have mentally outgrown the
whipped-spaniel system which is yet in
vogue among men concerning the one
sided power Of marriage, and every
where recognized by them as common
law. The spectacle Of the beloved
daughter Of the eminent jurist, Salmon
p. Chase (who did as much in his day
as any other man in power has ever
done to forge the matrimonial chain in
its present one-sided fashion, fleeing
like a criminal from justice, and hiding
her little daughters-born under the
curse Of drunken paternity-from the
father, who, by the worlds verdict, as
well as her own showing, is not morally
capable Of caring for or educating them,
though be is legally their sole proprie-
tor, is a spectacle quite analogous to the
underground railroad business Of a
I quarter Of a century ago.
The New York Sun doubts the unhap-
piness of Mrs. Sprague during the years
she names, "because she has in that
time been made the happy mother ol
three daughters" AS though mater
nifty, with a drunken and jealous hus-
band, who was liable at any time to
bring disgrace upon her by his accuss-
tious Of infdeliiy, could be a proof ol
happiness IfMrs. Sprague will turn
the attention of her future life, with the
prestige of her honored fathers name
and her own great talents, to the same
/ noble purpose that has crowned the last
/ fifteen years Of the life OF Fred Douglas
with a halo OF immortal glory, her chill
dren to the twentieth generation will
arise and call her blessed.