National Republican. (Washington City (D.C.)) 1872-1888, 1886-02-20

educational measures. But do not think,
friends, for n moment that the German re-
formers rest content with these restrictions.
have met them personally, and 7 know from
their own expressions that they are sad at
heart and often Respondent; only necessity
could make them submit to this one-sided
reform In that department, however, Won
derful progress has been achieved. In every
town industrial schools have been cstab
llshed, societies have been formed for the
assistance and encouragement of women
workers philanthropic and benevolent
measures are instituted and introduced by
and through women, and their activity Is
remarkable when we consider the press
ure under which they work. Every
where new organizations spring up,
which show clearly that even the German
woman does no longer limit herself to her
home sphere alone, but gradually assumes
her rightful place In the humanitarian work
going on outside, and which man can no
longer master himself
But, though he accepts her help, he does
| not believe in the compensation, and still
restricts her in everything but IN hard, ur-
renting labor.
The German women do not enjoy the
benefits and advantages our women do pos
sess already, aud yet the most clvilizing
work of our age-the new method Of edu
cation expoundod by Froebel-is principally
In the hands Of women. This new method
is slowly working revolution I'm the school
room, and gives n new sanctity to the holy
Office of motherhood and to the responsible
ity of her position.
Although the facilities for public discus
sion are very feeble and few, the influence Of
the German women have everywhere OBJ
served. A distinguished woman In Berlin,
who has high admiration OF what we are
| doing here, said to me: "You have com
mCnced to build the roof first. We begin
| with the foundations; In time we shall
meet We have to learn from you and you
| will have to adopt some of our measures"
And so IL is. While we have the educational
measures and methods Germany possesses,
| they lack the Independence, the free insti-
| tutions which have made us so powerful
and great. But II independence has made
| America SO powerful and great, is itnot safe
| TO prophesy that further extension OF II
| Will make IT still greater and more power
| fulS For, II life has a meaning at all, It
means progress, evolution, advancement.
America has from its start been famous
for its free spirit, its love for innovation, its
adherence to the principles Of justice. WIN
| you, then, at this early date, go back upon
| your traditions and say: "Thus far we have
believed in freedom in suffrage, but we no
| longer have faith In its principles. Woman
must remain fettered, dependent, unrepro-
sentedy" No; you cannot thus betray the
sacred trust bequeathed to you by your
noble forefathers, who haye freed and con-
| quered this continent for you. No true
hearted American, no liberty-loving man
can utter or think such thoughts. You will
open wide the gates Of American freedom
| and ask your wives, your sisters, your
mothers to come in and take their place at
your side, neither above nor below, but
right beside you.
The difference between the German and
the American is simply this That Ger
mans believe in monarchism, in the rule of
the emperors and Prince Bismarck, while
Americans believe In the government Of
al the people, high or low, rich or poor
You have conferred the blessings Of free
citizenship upon the negro; you invite the
| humblest, the lowest man to cast his vote,
you make them feel that they are sovereign
human beings; you place those men above
the most virtuous intelligent women; you
set them above your own daughters. Yes,
your own child, If born girl on this free
soil, is not free, for she stands outside the
pale Of the constitution, she and only she
| is deprived of her rightful heritage.
oh shame upon the shortsightedness, the
delinquency Of American statesmen, who
will quietly look on and suffer such an in
justice to exist. Nowhere in the world is
woman so highly respected as in free Amer
lea, and nowhere does she feel so keenly
and deeply her degradation. The vote
you know II full WELLS the insignia OF
power, Of influence, Of position. And from
this position the American woman is still
| declared.
Do you wonder at the low estimate of
American politics? The exclusion of women
means the exclusion OF your best men.
Not before the husband can take his wife,
the brother his sister, the father his daugh-
ter to the primary meeting, to the political
assembly, and to the polls will he himself
become interested and fulfill his duty as
voter and q citizen. At present he must
see that his neighbor who Keeps the grog-
shop deposits his opinion in the shape Of a
vote, but his finely educated daughter and
his accomplished wife have no such pre-
rogative. When he realizes that the inilu-
enCe of the meanest, dullest man in the
district is more potent than his, his own
interest flags, and he turns his back upon a
system which is in itself so unjust 50 IRA
tiOnal, and so unwise. You will, no doubt,
refer me to the remonstrants who openly
declare that they do not desire that
which by right and justice belongs to
them, who oppose it on the ground that they
do not neGdto be burdcned with new duties
and obligations. They would rather leave
these obligations in the hands of the rum
seller and the party schemer They would
rather that the ignorant emigrant, the UNI
instructed negro, should govern the coun-
try than that they should be burdened with
the uninterestlng affairs of politics. ask
you, friends, do these remonstrants repre-
sent the spirit Of the fathers Of this couu-
tryY Is their opposition in sympathy with
that noblest of documents, the declaration
of independence? They rather coincide
with the conservative German notion that
subordination to an established power is n
normal and healthy state of existence. In
Germany the remOnstrants might be appre-
| ciated and understood; here their action Is
simply objectionable, out of harmony with
the past, the present, and the future. If
| all women would adopt the views Of the
remonstrants we would surely return to the
state of barbarism out of which we have
slowly and gradually evolved.
| Throughout the civilized world the idea of
head and mastership is falling into disre-
| pute. The one-man rule, the man power in
the state Is no longer accepted by thinking,
progressive minds. Rather do we favor
the poets idea;
Two heads in council-two besides the heart;
| Two in the tangled business of the world,
| Two in the liberal offices of life;
Two plummets dropt, for one to sound the
| abyss
OF science and the secrets of the mind,
| And everywhere the broad and bounteOus earth
| Should bear doublegrOwth of those rare souls
| Whose thoughts enrich the world.
If the world is to be enriched by woman's
participation in public life, why then did
the founders Of this republic make no pro-
vision in the constitution they drew up ?
Because the time for it had not come, the
conditions were unfavorable, and the women
Of that period made no such demand. In
the early days of the republic the progress
sive, thinking women had otherwork to do;
they had to encourage and assist their hus-
bands in the great struggle for independ-
enCe; they had to enliven their spirits and
their courage to hold out during the days
of adversely; besides they had to toll from
early morn until late at eve, for there were
then no machinery, no such facilities for
doing the work in the home, in the field, In
the factory. Then there was the education
Of their children; without kindergartens,
district schools, or nurses, the mother had
to do all that herself. When and how
could she lind time to give expression to a