Seattle daily post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, W.T. [Wash.]) 1881-1888, 1884-04-03

Women are pretty much Ike men:
good. bad, and 80 90. the latter largely
preconinating. The accepted notion
tha. she has to shoulder the whole bur
den Of the moral regeneration OF the
world, and work out, not only her oyn
salvation, bot that Of ali mankind. IL. 20
.ay the least. unreasonable. Generally
speaking. she has quite enough 10 do TO
take care of herself. Besides the spec
tacIe Of the lords Of creation whose
sceptre of power Is too mighty for her
grasp, sitting down hslplessiy IN the
rnire of vice aud corruption. waiting for
woman 10 come along and pail him out,
Is neither an edifyIug or consistent ose-
The fact 10, men az well as women have
TO purify aud elevate them elves, ana
not expect anybody else - take the re-
sponsIbility Of their hands. u Is not 10
be done vigorously.
The true basis of the night Of women
TO the elective franchise IL precisely the
same upon which that Of men rests. Ii
is either right or wrong, either last or
unjust, and should stand or fall accord
ing "a ii is proven one or the Other
The objections that II would nave
tendency To degrade women" pro
duce discord in the family" etc. are
entirely beside the question No serl-
Gus harm could possibly ensue from
carrying ont principle OF right aad
justice ii be that-vhils the conse
ausnces Of disreearding il are incalcu-
labiy miscellaneous. IL Ia a solid and
enduring truth, proclaimed not only by
the highest religious and philosophical
authority, bnt by our own experience
and reasoning faculties, that justice
always pays IN the long run. mostly IN
the short. That the reverse Is true We
need no better illustration than the
familiar one Of the effect produced by
slavery in the Southern States. The
simple reason Why the South, with great
natural facilities of all kinds, fully
equal to and IN many respects surpass-
ing those OF the North, and ruling
class distinguished for intellect, refine
ment and culture, fell half century
behind US in all that marks the pro
Rress Of people, IS that she dlsrs-
Rarded the plain letter OF An
eternal law, and the consequences
were inevitable. Other instances, AS
the history Of the great East India Com
pany. the loss to England Of her Amer
lean colonies. might be multiplied IN
definitely. A modern writer has said,
Men who are insane enough to think
they may safely violate ths fundamental
laws of right conduct may read in count
less defeats and disasters their own fate.
Let them but inquire and they will find
that each petty evil, each great catastro
phe IL in some way or other sequence
of injustice" II might not, however.
be aIniss to notice IN passing some Of
the above named objections, since when
not subjected TO analysis they do have
weight with some minds. First as to
the apprehended degradation Of women
by the forming and expressing of Opin-
ions upon questions involving their own
we'll being and that of their families,
and the security Of their lives and prop
erty all in fact that is vital to every
citizen Of the Republic. | have heard
many times in the last few months wom-
en discussing political affairs with the
utmost eagerness and interest, and vas
unable to perceive that the husband,
brother or friend with whom they
talked thought any worse Of them
than il the discourse had been
about the last thing in polonaises.
lf then, as l think no one will deny,
women suffer no deterioration of cha.-
acter by the expression of opinions So
ciallv. upon these subjects, how could
the simple act of recording that opinion
at the polls two or three times year
work 80 great a Miracle AZ the transfer
nation of modest, gentle and refined
woman into a brazen furyl / believe
that the wetnanly delicacy Of women
rests upon firmer foundation than
| laek nfn ~ and TINT nanArntixy
speaking they have no inclination to be
come rowdies or drunkards or t. use
profane language. Certainly the oppOr.
tunity to assist in guiding 30 great and
solemn interests would not necessarily
oyerturn at once all that il good in their
nature, unless il can be proven that il
has had that effect upon men, which
few American citizens will be likely to
maintain. Again, II men are SO vile
and brutal that merely to meet them
occasionally at the polls IL 30 great n
contamination, how can women asso-
clate with them socially With IMMUNITY
No one asserts that they should not at
tend public worship. places of amuse-
ment, dance, converse with and even mar
~ men. There's far more danger 1t would
seem-if men are indeed 80 bad-of
being corrupted by association like this,
thar mere casual encounter. But |
think most people will agree that the
average man Is no more demon than
his wife or sister IL an angel, but on the
whole, a being Of good intentions and
tolerable practice.
Az to the questions of family discord
1t il only necessary To say, that the sup
preston Of opinion for the sake Of peace
Is the argument of tyrants only, and is
not capable Of being sustained when
carried ont to its logical Consequences
For 1t Ia apparent that il the wife must
have no political opinions, lest she hap
pen to differ with her husband. and
thus render him uncomfortable. the
conclusion must be accepted that she
can have none on any other subject
She should not allow him to determine
| whether she shall be Catholic or Protes-
tant, Jew or Gentle. but in fact hold
| herself ready to renounce any religious
| faith whatever, because her husband
may at some time do ,, and in y we'll
regulated family there must DO no CON
| hict OF views.
Another thing which seems scarcely
explicabie to the ordinary mind Ia that
while the immense moral superiority OF
women Is not only conceded but insist
cd upon. il would seem to follow "a a
perfectly logical sequence that she be
subjected To her inferior. 1t is certain
| ly the first time in history when such a
plea was made for mastery. In the las,
campaign the great point insisted on by
either party Was that il Was better and
purer than the other, more likely to Toe
honest and 10 carry out right princi-
plies. IL any political speaker had risen
in his place, and, after exhaustine all
his eloquence in depicting the virtues of
| the opposite party. after descanting on
the fact that his own was 50 corrupt
that II had debassd the whole system of
politics, should Rravely demand that for
that very reason II should have control
Of the whole power o: the government,
he would have beeu regarded as mad
and any further services quickly dis
pensed with by the cause he assumed to
represent,
II u after all arguments like these, 50
| opposed to reason that they need but to
be stated Ia fall TO pieces of their own
absurdity. that have always formed the
chief obstacles 80 any extension of lib
erty. They cling tenaciouslv for that
very reason, and only gradually loose
their hold in the new resistless current