Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1888-01-25
ABILITY OF WOMEN.
The Strong Administrative Capacity in
the Weaker Sex.

The managing mamma is character
that stands out in history. Peculiar to
no one time or locality, she is of that
cosmopolitan caste which results from
her having fourished in all ages, all
countries and among all sorts and con-
ditions of women. She is one of those
great world-links that bind past and
present together, enabling us to trace,
under different exteri0rs, those funda-
mental features that make of the hui
man race one great family AS the
embryonic mother-in-law she has OBJ
tanned a most unsavory reputation in
life and literature. and he must possess
the robur ct gs tripJeT who would enter
the list as her champion. Nevertheless,
there is creditable side to the man
aging mamma which has not yet met
the serious recognition it deserves. To
be successful in this sphere of labor de-
mands di plomatic and administrative
capacity of very high order, and too
many men who heap scorn and ridicule
upon such a woman do not possess a
legend typifes the tiasco of man with
aspiration in this direction in the in
structive examples of Danaus With
what ease and skill would managing
mamma" compass SO trifing q matter
as the settlement of fifty or more
daughters. But the only man on re-
cord who attempted it so bungled the
affair that he not only achieved his
children's misery in this life, but con-
demned them to endless torment in
Hades None of these old Greek stories
are meaningless, and we here see fore
Swallowed the fact, which is as true to-
day as in the early time-that man
aging mammas and not managing
papas are to decide the destiny of hui
manity.
But, seriously, this famous character
epitomizes the great native talent,
amounting to positive genius, that
women possess for the conduct of af-
fairs. 1t has been stored up almost
silently and handed down until it has
now become hereditary. For centuries
women have been in great training
school, where their power as admins
traitors has been steadily developed and
expanded. The amount of organization
involved in the running of the simplest
household can be appreciated only by
housekeepers themselves. To plan three
daily meals for the 365 days of the year;
to train or bear with incompetence in
the kitchen; to contriye with slender
means, and, finally, to so combine
hundred details that they shall make an
harmonious whole, demands talent that
would do credit to General. Yet 'un-
obtrusively, and as matter of course,
women have proved themselves such
administrators. ISit strange that when
their sphere" was limited to four walls
this power spent itself in managing not
only children, but, too often, the lords
and masters to bootp
This capacity has so gained during
generations of comparative inaction
that it is impossible to longer set bounds
or limits to its enterprise. There is a
large number of women whose house
holds do not entirely absorb their ener-
gies, and there is large class without
any household to conduct; the inalien-
able right of such to manage demands
and will more and more obtain its
natural outlet One can not but rejoice
at the constantly increasing public spirit
evinced by women, especially in the
field of philanthropy, but we will ven
ture to say that large proportion
undertake these enterprises from con-
scious or unconscious desire to manage
some thing. They act as presidents
and directors of our benevolent insti-
buttons, and display signal ability in
these positions. Their achievements
have almost surpassed the SANDER that
women can not understand business,
and to the men who inyidiously remark
that women do not run things on
business basis, but are constantly beg
ging for money, it may be answered
that when women have capital such
as men use in doing similar work they
will no longer beg for money to carry
on their various charitable enterprises
number of men who have so ground
down their wives and daughters that
the latter do not expect to handle
money. We all know those splendid
women who fare sumptuously every
day, but who are forced to beg every
SIS note from their masculine heads. It
is an i'll wind that blows no good, and
the pinching and contriving that so
many women have been forced into
under these circumstances has made
economy an instinct with them so that
as managers they can achieve equal re-
suits with far less outlay than men.
Women are now doing valuable work
on school and church boards according
to the unanimous testimony of men
who have observed them in these fields
They are making successful business
ventures as proprietors of scores and
hotels. They may not at the present