Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1880-02-20
Col. HasLIns on "woman in Politics.

Col. Kittredge Haskins's lecture, last
Thursday evening, the ninth in the citizens
course, was attended by good-sized audi
ence, who were entertained with carefully
prepared discourse of an hour and half on
Woman in Politics"-the subject being, in
other words, that Of "NNoman's Rights"
After q well-phrased introduction, in which
the topic of the evening was recognized as
the most important one now before the
American public, Col. Haskins, in taking up
the main body of his lecture, expressed his
grave fears of the result upon society and
the nation should the ballot be given to wo-
man, and in forecasting this result he said he
knew of no way to judge the future except by
the past. Proceeding on this basis and tax
ing Rollins ancient history as his authority,
the speaker proceeded to cite numerous ex-
amples of the career of famous women in
court and political lfe-going back to the
days of the early civilization in Egypt and
Persia, and following down to modern times
showing how, in all the instances cited
women who held power in the State, or were
"a power behind the throne" were guilty of
the most hideous and revolving crimes, the
grossest excuses, and the most wanton acts
of personal and public violence. This rec
ord black and terrible as it was, the speaker
believed, effectually answered the claim of
the advocates of woman suffrage that, with
the ballot in the hands of the women, they
would speedily purify our politics and crush
out the vice and immortality now prevalent on
every hand. Instead of having shown her
self better and purer than man, in politics,
woman had shown herself as much worse as
her nature was finer and more susceptible of
good and evil, and so he believed it would
ever be. With unrestricted suffrage, regard
less of sex, the baleful doctrine and practice
of free love must take root and prevail, the
home be destroyed, Christianity be under
mined, and the whole social and political
fabric totter and fall.
The lecture showed diligent historical re-
search, and careful study; the periods were
well rounded, and the delivery was in that
impressive style of oratory of which Col.
Haskins is the master. With the conclusions
reached by the speaker, in his method of
treatment of the subject we are, however,
obliged to disagree almost IN toto. But not
because we are "woman's rights man." On
the contrary, We have never been able to &C
cept that doctrine, at least not in its entirety
but the weighty reasons against it are found
in our own mind, in the eternal fitness of
things" and not in any such record of pain
full and sickening historical facts as Colonel
Haskins gave us last Thursday evening In
deed, were not the Colonel SO good a lawyer
we should be inclined to accuse him of hav-
ing INDUCED himself in bit of special plead
ing on this occasion for it cannot be denied
that the only just and impartial way to point
the lessons of history on this subject would
be to place side by side the acts of both men
and women, period for period, and show US
how they compare in moral animus, political
insight and executive ability. Our impress
sion is that, on this basis, record would be
made up which would not place womankind
at disadvantage. We apprehend it TO be
the fact that in all ages of the world the rul-
ing powers have been, for the most part
pretty correct opponents of the character and
condition of the people who have permitted
such powers to exist In the long run rulers
or administrators of public affairs cannot be
either much better or much worse than the
people who, in reality, give them their pow
err So it has been in the past, and SO it must
be in the future, whether the power be lodged
in the hands of man alone, or of both sexes
together.
On another point we must take sharp issue
with Col. Haskins. The inference to be
drawn from his lecture was that the doctrine
and practice of free love" has been and must
be the inseparable adjunct of woman suffrage.
There is no justice in such an implication
and no good reason for advancing it. Be
cause Victoria Woodruff and Theodore Til
ton, with their (supposed) easy virtue and I'M
savory record, chance to be ''woman's rights
menn there Is no more insiice in aefiinp