St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1888-11-04
y. ID
WOMAN's RIGHT OF ERROR

Cynthia E. Leonard has succeededin
getting herself registered in New York
city and proposes to march to the polls
on election day at the head of 500
women. She also intimates that a riot
is not altogether impossible. Well,
well, between the women suffragists
and Lord Sackville-West, American
politics is fast degenerating into a
Punch and Judy show" -
With reading the foregoing. which
appeared on the editorial page of one of
our daily papers last week, every wo-
man signs enviously to think of Eve
happy creature who, in meeting the
world IS expectation to blush over the
fOlIieS of all womankind, bluShed only
over her own. The sisterhood of women
as prescribed by all enlightened gener
alton, imposes cross upon
the sex, for which the brother
hood of men has no match.
Let female missionary in the South
Sea Islands marry a wolly cannibal. and
women throughout the universe are eX-
pected to put their feet in ashes, sack
cloth upon their heads and pray. Lord
have mercy on us FOOLS" Was woman
anywhere ever known to make sim
pleton of herself that every woman cog
infant of the fact did not declare, 4
blush to think l am a woman?" But let
all save one man On earth go driveling
in idiocy and that one man will still
hold himself the embodiment of his sex,
and find no cause for Standardization
in the imbecility of the other 500, 900
representatives.
If there is a single right more than
any other that women need to gaili-a
right that would smooth the way to the
acquisition of all others, it is the right
to make failure. Perfection is assumed
of women, and when here and there an
individual demonstrates the humanity
OF her kind, the whole sex is plunged,
voluntarily or by force, int dire dis
grace, and as one soul bewailS its con-
temptible existence. Notice, because
Cynthia Leonard threatens to raise
a riot on election day, American
politics is in danger OF degeneracy from
women suffragists, while Lord Sack
ville-West's British blunder, operating
in the same direction. involves Lord
Sackville-West only, and not the class
of persons, of which he is a single in
stance. For his lordship's mistake his
lordship alone is held accountable, but
for any folly that Cynthia Leonard may
be guilty of, all women suffragists are
counted answerable, and petticoats
everywhere are expected to bear in pill
tories the just punishment the burden
of their sisterhood inficts. With the right
of error goes the right of success.
Women now possess neither wholly.
There is no equality of the sexes in the
privilege of failure. Any indiscretion
of man is his own affair, and the con-
quests of his kind are all more or less
his glory; while only as waman errs
for some one man, is she absolute mis-
tress Of her own mistakeS-her every
other fault she must share with her sex.
and with every triumph save the triumph
over some man, she is born anew in
the masculine gender. Has she power
full intellect, it is masculine intel
lect;' is she brave, she is ''brave as
| man, is she strong, she is ''strong as a
man"-is she power in any way, alas!
it is always in breeches. 1t is never a
| matter of dispute-men never deny
women the privilege of being an angel,
indeed, they rather expect this of her.
She may spread her wings and stand
beautiful and useful as a Flying
Mercury, on shelf high over
their heads if she cares to
keep out of their way in that
ottitude; but the privilege of being hu