Workmen's advocate. (New Haven, Conn.) 1883-1891, 1886-08-29
WOMAN IN THE CO-OPtRA-
TIVE COMMONWEALTH.
CONTINUED.

tpNIlNl ED,
However, this power of earning her
living does not mean that III the New
Social Order all women, or even major
it\ Of them, will be in the service Of the
public, Nothing will prevent the daugh-
tiers from remaining at home, assisting
their mothers or caring for their fathers
and nothing will compel married women
to neglect their domestic affairs 1t sim
ply means that every woman will be en-
abled to earn her own living, honorably,
and pleasantly whenever she chooses so
to do, And this power is essential to the
dignity of woman, whether married OF
single
After what we have said on Suffrage
in other chapters we need not dwell on
that other the principal, demand of our
"Womcn rights champions. that women
now should vote rs much as men.
We, Of course, suppose that in the
Coming Commonwealth woman will be
intruStrd with the Suffrage to exactly
the same extent us man we say, advs
eddy, "intrust' for, all these champions
to the contrary, Suffrage is not Il "right
nor is it IA irirIcy~ but trust.
But what would the mere power to
cast Il ballot help woman now, surprising
If ia, CiITr 4.
those things which are SO very valuable,
when You have not got it, and SO very
worthless when you have. The ballot
has proven anything but magic wand
to the tolling Workingmen, and it would
he still more impotent in the hands of
tuiling women.
The ballot would not bring strength to
the lghtlcss eye or the thin hand of the
needle woman of this aye of competitor:
it would not remove the causes which
now make woman prefer almost any
marriage to working for living. II
might enable her to say a word about
laws OF divorce, but would not enable her
to support herself when divorced The
ballot in her hand might suppress lewd
houses but would not prevent men from
leading victims to the altar of their pas
Sl0nS like sheep to the saughter- bench.
Neither are we blind to the consdera
ton that if woman could exercise the
suffrage tomorrow with the State as at
| present constituted, the result would in
all likelihood he detrimental to progress.
for 1t l5nndeniable that they, taken as
whole, are far more conservative, even
rrartIonary fault of theirs, though
than men. In the words of Admiral
MaNSe; "ThOse who think morthodox.
that is, unusual thoughts, they H. e.,
women of the present timp) believe to be
wicked. They turn instinctivrly from
all initiative movements. Even SUPERIOR
women rarely have sympathy with the
struggles winch determine the life of
nation. They are only interested in pub
he affairs within the limits of the parish
But in the Coming Commonwealth all
th"o" Objections will disappear, for they
can all be shown to be due to their one
sided education.
Let us, however, give credit to these
persistent 'womcn-rightS" agitators for
one thing. We are told that in some set
Elements on the African coast free negroes
are tainted by the slaves with having no
white man to look after them. That so
many of our women have got beyond the
standpoint Of those slaves is in the main
due to those agitators.
But for woman to expect that her
emancipation will be worked out before
that of man is altogether Elusive. And
tins Is sufficient reason, why all agita-
tors for womrns rights ought with en-
thuSasm to embrace Socialism, which
VIII enable woman to right, herself all
her other wrongs.