The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1885-02-24
LETTERS FROM THE PEOPLE.
The Other Side of the seal-skin sacque.

To the Editor OF the Indianapolis Journal:
At the State woman's suffrage convention,
held In New York last week, one imprisoned
speaker said: Eat present am slave, hating
my serfdom l am here to day as slave, drag
ging my chains with me-" Her letters weren't
perceivable, being. no doubt, hidden by the seal
skin sacque the fair serf wore.
I clip the foregoing from the Journal of the
10th. Doubtless many read and smiled, as
did at first glance, seeing only the comfortable
side of the aforesaid sacque 1t is said that I, E
every smile there is tear, and to the right side
of every seal-skin sacque there is a wrong side.
Maybe this fashionable ''serf' wore an aching
heart that had been wounded by unjust treat
ment in probate court or in other place under
man made and man-executed law Be this as
it may, one thing is sure. that Chicago has re-
Gently shown the other side of this woman's serf-
dom in most shocking manner.
A simple minded German girl, Miss Sidel, was
accused of stealing a ring by her mistress, and
Notwithstanding she protested her innocence,
she was arrested and taken to jail She was ar
rested by a 'voter," was incarcerated and guard
ed by voters" Jailer Patton, also ''voter,"
who had charge of the corridor in which the cell
was located, most brutally outraged the person
of this poor girl. The mother was summoned
dead than alive, was removed to her home, and
skilled physicians testified to the truth of the
girls charge against the guard at the jail. All
parties were brought into the court. The judge
was voter" the twelve jurymen were
voters, the advocates were voters / read
with care the testimony as it appeared from day
to day in the Inter Ocean, and it was enough to
stir the blood to boiling heat of any man who
or daughter. There was no shadow of
DOUBT lett to the guilt OF
the guard The defense set up the
plea that the girl was of unchaste reputation.
By dint of the most depraved testimony it was
shown that she had once three years before,
plclous circumstances, and this, too, when she
was unable to speak the English language, and
unused to the wiles of American scoundrels.
Because of this single instance Jailor Patton
mot guilty. Had there been fair play the
life of Patton should have been carefully
scanned, and if he had been proven guilty of a
single lapse from virtue verdict of guilty of
the crime charged" would, under the rulings Of
this court, have exerted salutary influence
upon the future conduct of men similarly In
clined.
But no! only male" can be ''voter;" only
voter can be a juryman, and notwithstanding
the fact that many of these voters" are taken
from the almshouses and prisons, hustled on
board of ships and assisted to our shores to be-
come ful-fedged citizens, men, alone, do not
seem to see the danger imminent, especially to
the women of the Nation, because of this unjust
discrimination of SEX The poor working girls,
the Sadie Sidels are crying out to the women in
"seal-skin sacques" to protect them from such
injustice and outrage as comes from the fact that
women are not allowed self-protection and self
representation. Abraham Lincoln spoke with
tongues when he said He who has not voice
in the laws under which he lives is
slave indeed" This applies as
we'll to those who wear sacques,
to those who wear coats. The shameless out
RACES that are being perpetrated in the courts of
the country upon women should call the working
men to defend the working women by placing
the ballot in their hands, that when trials in
courts are necessary, these women may
place juries of their own sex to try their cause,
thus preventing men as corrupt as the criminal
himself from upholding dastardly crime. Free
dom and law should know no sex, and until this
sentiment is fully recognized by written law,
noble souls, patriotic minds, will feel the CALLING
'fetters" OF injustice, whether covered with rags
seal skin sacques HELEN nj. COUGAR.
LAFAYETTE, Feb 20, 1885.