, 1880-01-04

SUNDAY JANUARY 4
Franklin, and Others Perhaps this very cir
| cumstance IS significant Of what would b'
apt to occur in political discussions if wome1
should personally and. contrnversially :enthl
the domain Of politics. Nearly every mar
can recall some private experience with the
shreWd and not oyerscrupulous way in which
women, without any conscious violation o1
ethics, are accustomed to get the best of al
argument One Of the ladies. who cham
pioned female suffrage was unfortunate,
however, when she invoked st. Paul in favor
Of "equal freedom for either SEX" as DR..
Parkman quotes theApostle to more direct
purpose when he wrote:S ."Let the woman
learn in silence with all subsection; but
suffer NOT a.woman to teach,' nor usnrp a1l-
thority over the man, but to be in silence" !"
1t is the pertinence rather than the literal
application Of this quotation upon which we
are inclined to insist.
| One Of the Parkman arguments most vigor-
ously assailed by the womansuffrage cham
pions was, that the right to vote should not
be separated from the ability to fight. This
was construed III individual application,
which would exclude certain professional
men who are physically as weak as y$bm-
en-, the lame, halt, and blind among the
males, and such others as are not able to
shoulder musket and march to the field Of
battle. Of course this is quibbling. In gen
eral, sex is the dividing line between conf
batants and non-combatants. DR.. Parkman
is right when he contends that no Govern
,ernment can ever sustain itself long which
cannot command the physical force OF the
Nation; and it is by no means an impossible
case he 'supposes in which the majority
should consist chiefly of women, and the de-
feated minority Of men; in such case the
Government would be powerless to enforce
its laws against the resistance Of the
minority defeated: at the polls. There
are other strong arguments against confer
ring the ballot upon women which Dr.. Park
man restates in remarkably clear fashion.
"sWomen have great special tasks assigned
them in the work Of life, and men have not"
It is not only because women will discharge
their full duty and do their best service to
humanity BY giving mental and bodily sound.
ness and careful rearing to their offspring
that they should contine themselves to this
special task as much as possible; but because,
if American women neglect it, the natural
struggle for existence may give the foreign
classes growing advantage in population
and force. With the ballot in the hands Of
women, it is not unlikely that there would
be an effort to dispose Of the social evil by
political enactment; and such an effort, DR..
Parhmah says, "would be calamity worse
than civil war;; and be adds thai" it would
be to open sewers and cesspools, and
poison the air with moral typhoid" Mar
riage, divorce, free-1oyc, and other kindred
subjects would, still further compllcate
the partisan issues o. the country. Civil
discord would be more imminent than 1t is
now from the clashing Of labor. and capital,
which is destined to occupy conspicuous
place in American politics in any event. be-
cause the wives and daughters Of the rich
and the poor would add to the present dis
sensions the prejudices Of caste and the jeal-
ousies of social distinctions. :.
a curious and interesting part Of Dr.. Park
mnn's latest paper is that in. which he ana
lyzes the motives which prompt small pro-
portion Of the American women to seek the |
ballot Some Of them are 1nisled by false |
idea Of progress; others are Influenced by
the notion that participation in politics will
make women more serious and sober, not
it has so frequently an opposit |
effect On men; in few instances there is a
sentiment Of self-sacridce, which is nearly
always attractive to womanly nature; others
are dominated by a desire to rule for the
purpose Of working out reformswhich should
lave no place in politics. Altogether, very |
Gear distinction is drawn everywhere be- |
tween practical and sentimental government. |