Oxford eagle., 1888-04-19
NO. A..
iNDivIDUALiSM.
What woman's Rights Realty Mcans-Ths
Moving Instinct.

MOVING Instinct.
Mrs Corbin says that tho woman suf-
frage movement is based upon individ
ualism. and that individualism is de
structivc TO "the home. the church anc
the State"
Individualism. in its bad sense.
means simply seltshness. Now. why
should it make woman selfish to take
M intelligent interest in the affairs Of
her country. or 10 be recognized as
worthy Of having her opinion countcdF
The slur upon the early woman's
rights women is wholly unwarranted.
They based their demand upon the
fundamental bedrock of justice. and
sooner or later their cause was sure To
prevail. But the great accession of
strength that the movement has re-
ceivod Of late years through the ". G. I.
L. is proof that individualism is not the
strongest impelling force with most
women. Women never fight like this
for themselves" said an observant
spectator at n great mass-mecting
of Englishwomcn assembled to demand
the franchise. The love of justice and
sense Of personal dignity aroused
few women Of high Intelligence to the
wish for suffrage. and the same causes
are arousing more and more Of them
every year But there are comparative
ly few persons who care much about
what seems to them m abstract in JUS
ticc. even If il bc practiccd against
themselves. Moreover, with most women
the instinct Of self-asscrtion is weaker.
and tho instinct OF sympathy stronger.
than with men. 1t has been only as
women saw. or thought they saw, that
they could use the suffrage for the ben
eft Of those whom they loved better
than themselves. that they have come
to desire it in great numbers. We may
rejoice in the fact or lament it, accord
ing to our respective points of view.
but there is no doubt that whore the
cry For self-protcction" will rally
one woman to the cause of woman suf-
fragc. the cry For home protection
will rally twenty. This * proof enough
that seliishness ON the part Of women
does not lie at the bottom of their de-
uilHu loI INC SUuTdHc-
II is not easy to see why woman suf-
frage should destroy the home. or lead
to the alarming moral consequences
that Mrs. Corbin predicts There is
no logical connection between univcr-
sal suffrage and universal immortality.
IL will hardly be claimed that women
at present have more lax notions than
men in regard to the obligations Of
isocial purity. Indeed. "Ouida" and
other advocates of loose theories OPP
pose woman suffrage on the very
ground that women would punish
offcnses against the home with too
great severity. II women were allow
ed to vote Tomorrow. the majority of
them certainly would not vote for 'the
abrogaticu of marriage and patcrnal
responsibility" l. there any thing in
a deeper study of political economy to
make them favor such views? On the
contrary. in the opinion of most Of Us
wider knowledge would simply rein
force woman's instructive horror of
impurity with reasons and arguments
of the wci2hticst character. 1t is not
from equal rights and broader edu-
cation that immortality is likely to re-
suit, hnt rather from ignorance and
frivolity. and an uncqualed standard
of morals for men and women.
To say that woman suffrage will sub
vert "the home. the church and tho
State is to imply that these institu-
tions are all based upon the absolute
authority Of one sex over the other, as
their cornerstone The advocates of
| woman suffrage believe, on the other
hand, that this absolute authority il
incompatible with the perfect develop
ment either of the home. the church.
or the State; of the State. because
governments derive their just powers
from the consent of the governed" and
the only known method of giving po-
church. because in the ideal church of
the future there shall be neither jew
nor Greek. there shall be neither bond
nor free, there shall be neither male
nor female;" of the home. because. AS
Charles Kingsley said. wherever n
man and wife are really hap
py together it il by ignor-
ing and despising. not by assert
ing, the subordination of woman to
man. And we believe. moreover.
that all this is only 'closer applca-
ton of Christian doctrine to the home.
the church and the State. Alice Stone
Blackwell, IN Womdas Journal