National Republican., 1884-10-11
ELISE HATHAWAY.
OBSERVATIONS on POLITICS IN GENERAL
AND BELyA LOCKWOOD IN PARTICULAR.



the. Foremost Female Trlcycllst into the
Presidential Raco-Some Obiectors Answered.
To the thoughtful student of the philos-
ophy of history who looks below the sur
face OF nero party strife and contention,
who has an ear attuncd to catch above and
beyond tho clangor of turbulent factional
debate tho fine harmonies of destiny,
there is something of intense Significance
in the great tidal wave now rolling over
our land. What does it mean this vast
popular uprising, affecting young and old,
rich and poor black and whitc, and,
may add, malo and female? What docs
It mean that from Maine to Georgia, from
Oregon to Massachusetts, rolls one tre-
mendous wave of enthusiasm that will
undoubtedly bear on its bosom into the
white house the first woman who ever
(oflicially) adorned its precincts-unless
she should prefer to be horne there on her
own simple, unsssuming tricycle..
Why is it that from day TO day aro
waited to us from afar tidings Of eager
throngs clamoring to be allowed to cast
their votos for our peerless Belva, of
beardless boys tearfully examining tho
when IL too conclusively proves that they
are not yet 21? Why Is it that large
crowds assemble to jeer contemptuously
Mt her impotent rivals2 1t is true these
helpless competitors go through the form
of making speeches, hiring brass bands
and otherwise setting In motion the usual
campaign machinery, but 1t Is plainly to
be seen that they themselves know It to
he only an idle formality, the last dying
struggle of a forlorn hope. And these are
men, too, who have long been before the
public. men of ability and renown, while
their opponent is only comparatively
little known woman. with all u woman's
shrinking and unassuming modesty,
woman's hatred of publicity and ardent
yearning to be allowed undisturbed TO
adorn the domestic hearth, and all that
sort of thing
Why is IL, then, that clamoring popu-
lar demand has dragged her into the
public arena of politics, reluctant yet
nobly ready to obey her countrys call
Is 1t not that the great mass OF the Amer
lean people demand reform--a higher and
hoior standard OF political conduct2 And
as this has been their burning DESIRE or
at least all the newspapers have said 1t
was, during all the century of our nations |
existence, and as one man after another
when elected has failed to fulfill 1t, is it |
not natural that a tremendous reaction
should set in, that tho people should rise |
up as one man and choose a representative |
woman to carry out this lofty ideal?
OF course the woman chosen for this |
high mission will have to anticipate a |
bitter conflict with ignorance and preju- |
dice. As is always the case with any |
great progressive movement, she will |
meet with opposition. Indeed, already |
h0a thA NAV, oil IA haa
heard asserting, with paltry attempt to |
mako political capital out of the fact that |
she rides tricycle.. But to tho keen OBJ
server, unblinded by prejudice, this simple |
fact throws a flow Of light upon her char
scter, revealing many noble qualities. |
Courage in being the pioneer to introduce |
so useful an invention into the capital of |
the nation, whence it would naturally |
spread all over the country; unselfish- |
ness in casting aside her naturally timid |
and retiring disposition and forcing her |
self to appear before critical public In |
what was at first q conspicuous vehicle,
and true republican simplicity in prefer
ring It to coach and four with liveries
and outriders.
Trivial objectors have urged, too, that
she showed her stockings too openly. |
But does not this very fact show nature |
too open and FREQ to copdescend to eva |
sion; q nature that would scorn to sup |
press the fact that she wears stockings. |
If that be the. oply crime with which she
can be charged,wh among us. except the
very poorest, can lay his hand upon his
heart and say that he is not guilty of the |
same oGense? Might she not, il she |
dsigned to notice these innuendoes, reply |
to them with that royal epigram formed |
under somewhat similar circumstances,
"Honi soft qui NAL y pense." Indeed, |
some Of her most wildly enthusiastic ad- |
mirers are planning q magnificent testi- |
monial tricycle., to bo used for the first |
time for her triumphal progress on the |
4th Of March, mounted with brass, and |
embellished with coat of arms having
for Its principal device on q field sable q |
stocking, gules, rampant.
Other carpipg critics have made sneer-
ing illusions to opening boxes of caramels.
&c. To what pitiable devices are they
reduced In their efforts to find some
possible objection to the unanimous cleo
tion Of this pure and spotless candidate.
Can any fair-minded citizen say that the
caramel is not more ennobling than the
cigar. the pure and refined marshmallow
than the degrading whisky smash?
OF course these trifling objections will
be but as straws in the tremendous flame
OF popular enthusiasm in November. The
name of the first woman to be president
of the United States will be handed down
to posterity with those of Joan of Arc. the
great Elizabeth, Catherine do Medicis,
and other distinguished ladies of an
tiquity. + street will become classic
boulevard, not second in historical interest
to the Appian Way or the Pous Asinorum.
The whole country will stand by our can
didate. not alone from that magnanimity
which this causeless persecution by in
terested parties would naturally awaken,
but on account of the great issues in
volved. Is 1t nothing to this nation to
SEQ the white house supplied with tides
and crazy quilts in every room? IL it
nothing to have party strife and Glamor
queled by the gentle voice of a woman
Is q nothing to have lordly coaches and
prancing horses superseded by the fleet
bat feminine tricycle2 We will 500 when
election day comes, and tho masses sweep
victorious to the polls, having for their
watchword Macaulay's prophetic line:
"And be our orlhamme to-day tho stockings of
Belyarre."
ELISE HATHAWAY.