The new Northwest. [volume] (Portland, Or.) 1871-1887, 1879-10-02
An Infelieitous Bpithst.


cure the cooperation Of their sex ia eau
euses and citizens conventions are not
actuated 10y love of uotOrietv, and are
not, therefore, to be classed with the alb
solute Woman Sufiragisis." - Boston
| Daily Transcript, Sept I, 1879.
When the eloquent colored abolition
list, Charles Remond, once said upon the
| platform that George Washington was
a villain, Wendell Phillips demonstrated
| by saying, "Charles, the epithet is not
I IellcitOus." RefoTmers are apt to be
peIted with epithets quite as in chosen.
How often has the charge figured in
/ history that they were "actuated by
love of nOtOriety" The early Chris
tlans, IL was generally believed, took g
/ positive pleasure in being thrown to the
lions, under the influence Of this mo-
| tlvei ami at later period there was a
hrm conviction that the Huguenots con-
sented readily to being broken on the
Wheel, or sawed in pieces between two
ooatdsi ana ielt amply rewarded by the
pleasure Ol being talked about During
the whole auti-slavery movement
while the abolitiOuists were mobbed
/ nued and imprisoned; while thew ware
tanooed by good society, depleted of
their money, Kept out Of employment
checked in their advancement bv tbe
mere fact OF their abolitiouism. there
never was a moment when their sole
motive was not considered bv many
persons To be-the love Of uotorie;v
why should the advocates Of Woman
Suffrage expect any different treatment
now?
lt Is not neces ssary, i'm order Ia dispose
OF this charge, to claim that all reform
ers are heroes or saints Even in the
Infancy oi any reform, il takes along
with II some poor material; and even in
the best material unpleasant traits are
often developed 10y the incidents of the
contest. Doubtless many reformers
come to certain enjoy yment of IA frht
Al last; u II one of the dangerous ten
dencies which those committed 10 this
vocation must resist. But, 30 far as NV
observation goes, those who engage in
reform Tor the sake Of nOtOriety gener-
ally hurt the reform 50 much that they
render it their chief service when thew
leave IL; and this happy deserlion usr-
ally comes pretty early iu their career.
The besettiug sin of refurmers is not. SO
FAR as can Judge. the love Of uotorietv,
but the love of power and OF fiattery
within their own small circle-a temp
taiiOn quite different from the other,
hnth Ia It's origin AMI ITS results
NntoTiety comes so soon to a reformer
that It's charms, whatever they may be. |
soon pail upou tue palate, just as they
do IN case Of popular poet or author, I
who Is so used TO seeing his name in Z
print that he hardly notices il. sup- I
pose hat there is no young person so
modest that he does not, on first seeing
himself in a newspaper, cut out the pas 1
sage with "A certain tender solicitudp. I
and perhaps purchase few extra copies I.
of the fortunate journal. But when the f.
same person has beeu battered by
score or two of years in successive un- /
popular REFORMS, | suppose that he
not only would leave the paper uncut or
unpurchased, but would hardly take the
pains to correct even misstatement,
were il asserted that he had inherited a
fortune or murdered his grandmother.
The moral Is, that the love Of nntorietv
IL soon amply filled, in reformeris ex-
perience, and that he will not, as a rule. /
sacrifice home and comfort, money and
friends, without some stronger induce T
ment. This is certainly true of most of
the men who have interested themselves /
in this particular movement I
''G e sE-miuded men," as the reporterS. |
with witty autithesis, sin describe 1
them; aud IL must he much the same I
with the strong minded women" who .
share their base career.
Aud il is 10 b. RENE embered, above all, 4
that, considered as an engine for obtain .
ing notoriety, the Woman Suffrage agi- I
tatIou is great waste Of energy. The .
same net result could have been won I
with far less TX euditure in other ways.
There Is not a woman connected with it /
who could not have achieved far more
a
meetings or "a a manager OF fancy fairs .
or as sensational letter-writer. She I
could have done this, too, with far less .
trouble, without the loss of a single .
"gsnteeln friend, without forfeiting a |
single social attention, without having I
a single ili-natuTed thing said about her .
except perhaps that she bored people, .
a charge TO which the highest and low
est forms OF prominence are equally 4
open. Nay, she might have done even .
more than this, if notoriety was her
sole aim; for she might have become a .
variety" minstrel or a "walkist;" she .
IN ight have written a scaudalOus novel; I
she might have got somebody to aim at 4
her that harmless pistol, which has .
helped the fame OF so many wandering .
actress, while its bullet somehow never .
hits anything but the wall. All this .
she might have done, and obtained .
untoriety beyond q doubt. Instead Of .
this, she has preferred to prOwl about, .
picking up a precariOus publicity by .
giving lectures TO willing lyceums, 1
writing books for eager publishers, or /
ganiZing schools, setting up hospitals, .
and achieving for her sex something
like equal rights before the law. Either
she has shown herself, as "seeker after I.
notoriety,n to be most foolish and ill I
Judging person, or else, as was said Of
WashingtOu's being a villain, "the epi- /
tibet is not felicitous. 1T w. HiggiH- !
son. iH WOmdlfs Journal