The clarion. [volume] (Jackson, Miss.) 1883-1888, 1885-07-08

as 1T Is and adjust ourselves to the urgent
| demands of the occasion. The day Is
past, If ever indeed it existed, that the
| limit of woman's ambition was marriage,
or that woman, regardless Of her intel
lectual capacity, should be restricted TO
what are denominated" dome site duties"
! More than ever before in the history OF
our county, are women dependent for
support on their own exertions. There
are scores of women, middle aged and
young, whose education isOf character
10 qualify them for reasonable positions
in the various business ayocations OF life,
( There are, moreover, those who are prom
pied in their desire for positions of the
| kind mentioned, less by stern necessity
than by spirit of independence and
/ laudable ambition to improve to the best
advantage their God given talents. Rich
! In their moral and intellectual woman
hood they feel that they cannot afford
| TO stand all the day idle. The departure
| has been taken and new avenues to hon
orable living have been opened to
thoroughly qualified ladies throughout
our Southern land. 1t may be questioned
whether our Creator designed woman for
| Governor, Senator, civil officer or UOter,
| for her true empire is the affections. BY
high intellect, by chastened desire, by
fascinating powers of conversation by
| the charms Of feminine gracefulness, she
may and does rule her LordlV companion.
She unsexes herself when she aspires to
the manly pferogatives and forgets her
womanliness. But her powers have been
enlarged and new privileges have been
conferred upon her, until to-day she
stands the grandest and most powerful
| factor in the moral and social universe.
Yet. woman-hke, she is not satisfied,
aud Graves a new field in which to
exercise her inexhaustive faculties. 1t
has been invidiously said of woman that
whatever is denied her she deems her
sacred right, and to deny her the right to
perform any particular act infuses into
| her fibers and bones a determination to
perform that particular feat-she wants
the right to participate octiUety in the
politics of her countryside wants to
| U0te and hold office. SO far, she has been
the power behind the throne,-now she
desires a seat upon the throne, Sup
pose we picture to ourselves how she
will be when the time comes for her to
90 to the polls? In the premises, permit
me to say that only those who are
twenty-one years of age can vote, and so
few single women ever reach that period,
it follows that only wives, and those
who have been wives (widows) will be
the benefciaries of this change. One
great advantage will result from thisl
viz-old maids will be of more impor-
tance than maidens, and they will not
be laid upon the shelf 50 early as for
merly.
With the entrance of agOmdn into pol
itics, the campaigns will never be dull
and will be fought with greater zeal and
earnestness No woman is ever neutral
as a contestant, particularly when
argument las in political campaigns) is
the mode of warfare. Every tongue
will leap from its scabbard ready for
defense or attack, and be welded with
force and skill wonderful to see. She
will instruct the people, will teach,
preach, .argue and gossip, until her
hearers will know all she knows or know
nothing at all. No woman
WILL EVER BE A "MUGwUMP,"
or "half breed" She will always be
stalwart snd firm believer in the motto
-"She serves her country best, who
/ serves ueT COuHlIy HlOSt. b1ilC Will
attend the primary elections, go as a
delegate to the conventions, take prom
| iment part on the several committees,
draw resolutions of endorsement or GEN.
sure, and shape the policy of her party
with prudence and wisdom peculiarly
her own.
Men will no longer be permitted to
abuse and villify each other, for woman,
sacrificing creature that she is, will take
this branch of campaign duty upon her
own shoulders, with meekness and
readiness touching to behold. Her
clarion notes will be heard from the
hustings, debating with the opposition
the question in issue in concise and
lucid manner, never once losing her
temper. She will always be found
where the fight is the thickest, and the
white plumes of her bonnet will be
waving where it can be seen to the best
advantage. Her active participation in
the campaigns will make her what she
ought TO bean intelligent and well in
| formed voter. She is, by nature, firm
and resolute and never susceptible to
| improper influences. Neither soda
water nor oyster suppers, buggy-rides nor
honeyed words can lead her from her
convictions. In all the purity of her
new dress, she would trip to the ballot
box and after having given her name
and age, (never reaching beyond the age
of twenty-one) deposit her ballot with
force. She will see that everybody else
votes-no one should remain at home on
such day. She will bring out the cook,
nurse, maid, and if her party is in great
danger, her husband also. No one can
accuse woman of being a whimsical
creature She will not exercise the cleo
tive franchise 10 crafty mere fancy.
She will not support candidate on
account of mere personal favor, or op-
pose because she has spite against
him. While she is an admirer of the
beautiful, she will not give her vote
to a candidate simply because he is
epod looking. She will remain unaf-
fected by appearances-Prifcipte will be
her sole consideration. Nor will it make
any difference whether the candidate is
single or married; and if married, his
wife's looks and dress will pass unno-
ticed. These things may move man,
but women never-she is too patriotic for
that You need not expect to be al
lowed to carry a. jug whose contents will
stimulate you on your way to the polls.
No!-she may invite you to her house,
ask YOU to the dining room, decorate
YOU with button-hole boquet, or emu
merate your many virtues, but she will
never take you to the bar-room or treat.
She is too pure for that. But nowhere
! will the genius of woman shine with
such transcendant splendor as in the
public office-for of course | suppose it
is admitted, that if she can vote, she
can also be voted for. Now she would
not, like selfish man, be an office-seeker,
but, with the aforementioned weakness
and readiness, she would always respond
to her country's call, and so ardentwould
} she be in her patriotism that her country
would never have to call her twice.
AS A CANDIDATE,
she will be invincible. She will discuss
the tariff, currency, civil-service reform
and other public questions with vigol
thatwill reach the ears of Webster, Clay
and Calhoun in the spirit-land. Aftel
her election, she would begin the reform
and correction of the many abuses com
mitted by her predecessors, for no woman
is satisfied with what ano.her has done
She will discharge her duties withoui
show or pomp, for it does not require
me to say that woman is modest ant
has contempt for display. As a govern
or, she will guide the ship of state With
out excitement or confusion, and exc
cute the laws with the strictness of /
stepmother. As a legislator, she vii
enact laws for the better preservation O
: vn,,tb and heaufv and SurpQrf m eaSfl re.