The Portland daily press., 1888-04-14
BEHIND AND AHEAD.
Little System but Much Decorun, a
Characteristic OF the Woman's Con-
gress.

Sstas ~ W ttt0 w 0tbIdD . ~ UT
gross.
washington Correspondence Of Boston Herald
Now that the work Of the woman's council
Is over, and one is at last able to form an
opinion of the work and the subject and its
entirety, decision becomes more puzzling
than ever. The strangest incongruities
have marked 1t throughout, and the same
lines of strength and weakness have been
woven into warp Of Inconsistencies which,
under the circumstances, should not have
been looked for With a compact mass of
| strong minded, well disciplined, clear headed
people, both at the head and among the dele
| gates, there has been an overwhelming want
of business principles and a disregard of
accurate methods in the highest degree sur
prsing If these women had been tyros in
their profession of public characters; II they
had come directly from the easy, unhurried
usages of private life into the requirements
Of this broader arena, one could forgive
many mistakes. But it is hard to close the
eyes Of criticism when the position which
the actors have taken as responsible and
well informed agents, places them absolutely
outside the excuses usually made for their
sex. Ii they choose to enter into eompeti-
tion with man on the basis of an equal stand
ing, they must bear the test Of comparison
with him on the ground of similar proceed
ings Mercy may temper justice. but after
all 1t is justice and not indulgence which
they must expect. To begin then, the BUSH
ness management was abominable through
out. There was plenty OF theory, but no
practice. An attractive little programme Of
u or II pages had been prepared, giving in
detail the announcements Of each morning
and evening session throughout the entire
Congress. According to this. the morning
exercise opened with prayer at 10 a. m. and
continued through essays and addresses of
from 10 to 30 minutes In length until noon
/ time. Strangers and visitors began to make
hair rnVIvF ~rrxNA
well have left circumstances to rule, and de-
pended upon having the unexpected hap
| PEN as usual. At 10 o'clock there would be
. sprinkling of delegates on the platform
with house In front comfortably full; at
10.15, distinguished representatives were
| still calmly dropping into their seats ON the
| stage at 1890, Susan b. Anthony's famous
| red shawl would make its unhurried entree
at a side door, and n0nchalantly find its way
to the front without any more notice of the
applause which always greeted its angular
folds than as II 1t eneased a br00mstick instead
/ of a prospective suffragist. At 1876 or 10.40
or 10. As o'clock, the entrances still continued
-remember these were Of the principal
actors-easily, gracefully unfnstered by any
sense of injury or insult to the waiting thou
sands in wet clothes and dry impotence In
orchestra and balconies; there would be
pretty little mods and gushing hsndclaps.
and tender cooling OF small feminine greet
mgs on the way toward places Mrs. Cady
| Stanton's beautiful spun silk hair would
shine like halo around the plump but dila-
| tory priestess OF the rites, as she serenely
dropped into the central arm chair; the gayei
ia the chairwoman's hand dropped ON the
little stand before her; people pulled them
| selves together In incredulous thanksgiving
thatlthe end, OF rather the beginning, had
actually come, and the proceedings of the
day were opening. when the third or fourth
| or fifth exercise should have been going on.
| Not whisper of apology not a glance of
concern, not q pretence Of any unavoidable
| accident which had caused delay or disap-
| pointment And these were the pioneers
| marking 0at the new path for women! 49,
| Aside from the inherent want Of mathe-
| NAUTICAL brains which makes even the best
| woman unconscious of the sin Of dilatorincss,
the woman's congress was a great improve
| ment over that of the men creatures. No
| smoking with hats on in the halls and eorri-
| dOrs-aye, and In the council chambers Of
| the gods themselves; no blots on civilization
In the shape of .cuspidors In the aisles and
| staircases; no sitting with feet tilted on the
| benches In font; no talking while your
| neighbor was speaking. with as little con-
| seriousness of his presence as II he were in
| Timtucto0. But an air Of deep and earnest
a kindly pat on the back or good honest
kiss for some specially heroic effort, fash.
| ion of wearing pretty breastknot of p0sies
| so that the stage looked IKE flower garden.
and radiant dissatisfaction that, whether
| you believed in the principle under consider
| tion or no, carried you along like an eleva-
| tor or burst of Wendell Phillips's oratory.
| 1t was beautiful to see so much confidence
| and friendlness-such brotherhood Of in
| terests, IL one might so callit. among women.
| II was altogether delicious to see Mrs Liver
more, with the hereditary traits of her moth
or Eve stronger than all her acquired teach
| ings, carefully undo her manuscript from Its
brown paper cover and just as carefully put
every pin In her mouth as she took 1t out
| And to hear Miss Anthony call Frances and
| Elizabeth and Lucy each by their first names
| - II they were children ut play In . barn in
| stead Of sedate females at the head of an in
| ternatiOnal council. And the evident admi-
| ration Of the entire platform, when some
| sister who was proceeding to nail down a
| very tough and very hard plank Of argument,
| did it In dainty gown and pair Of we'll
| fitting kid gloves, instead Of black mitts or
beaded spencer There may be higher and
| nobler gifts than these little human traits,
but there are none more becoming. And can
forget the ripples Of intense enjoyment,
| the silent chorus Of mods and becks and
wreathed Smiles" the open delight and
swift spasm Of applause that swept over the
entire house from pit to dome, from the far
thest seat on the stage to the farthest seat
on the auditorium, when any speaker, more
audaci0us than the rest, recognized the old
adage that for most women all roads led to
marriage, and that It was right 1t should be
so. Even Susan Anthony's grim visage re-
Taxed In a smile, and Cady Stanson's plump
hands beat tender refrain, which showed
how hard it was after all to change female