The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1888-06-18
SOME WOMEN SOCIALISTS
RADICALS WHO HAVE EsPOUSED
VERY ADVANCED VIEWS.

the Cause-Mrs Hinton, Who Does
Not at all Despair-Miss Johnson and
Mrs. Leonard and Others Who Be-
lieve in the Triumph of Anarchy.
copyrighted 1881
NEW YORK, June 16-There are fewer
radicals in New York to-day by one. Nine
| Delescluze, labor agitator, socialist, anar-
| chist has given up the cause.
The number of women in the city who
are leaders Of isms is not by any means a
small one. Just as in Russia they
say that women are among the
bravest and most devoted of the
OF the nihilists; just as the French revolu-
ton wrought women to a higher pitch of
frenzy than men; just as it happens In all
times and all places that one of the conssrv-
alive sex which plants its feet on tradition,
is governed by conventions and abides by
authority, when once she has surrendered
herself to an idea does so without reserve,
and will thenceforward dare more and sacri-
| nee more for 1t than any but the thOusandth
man. SO in the wrestle for shelter, bread and
butter life in the city, in which the com
batantS never relax their grip, and whose
one unfallin2 result Is icOnoclastic thought,
breakers. Once they have put aside their
reverence for everything that is they are
ready for anything that isn't There's not
a revolutionary theory, not social move
ment, not fresh campaign planned along
any line In which they are not to the fore
| Some go III for a regeneration of the whole
human family as lightly and confidently as
| If they had taken W a pug dog-or D oodle
| hobby, but most Of them are in deadly ear
nest, however visionary their schemes. Many
have not had business training enough to
| be practical, and their sanguine Temporal
| ments, which can see no obstacle and never
| know when battle is lost, cause the lip of
the cynic to curl, but may be of advantage
nevertheless as keeping the glow of enthu-
slaSm undampened and supplying the strong
| est motive power in the world. Women
can do the impossible sometimes.
| The woman radicals and socialists have
| nothing to gain and something to lose.
There is no money in it and no fame in it,
| There is loss of social consideration and of
| friends in it. for some of them are highly
| educated women who might have done
| something in other fields. One or two are
women of unusual brain power, considerably
above the average woman or man. There
can be no question that they are sincere, to
| the verge of fanaticisIp It'll almost never
that one of them takes her hand from the
| pillow, though Nine. Delescluze has become
| a renegade
There is not a woman and there are few
men who have been more active in labor
| and socialiStlc circles for many years than
Nine. Elizabeth M. Deles clue. Daughter
in-law of sturdy old Delescluze of French
| Commune fame, prominent as a socialist
herself IN the stirring times of III and ~
| gifted with the tongue of an eloquent
| speaker, her influence has been very consid-
| cradle. She became an enthusiastic Knight
Lee LII 4 4 IL. 4
| was largely Instrumental in bringing work
ing women into the assemblies Her acquaint-
ance with New York working women and
| influence over them m lde her the best
known woman in the ranks Of labor. She
| gave her time and her means without re-
serve to the work, speaking night after
| night in succession for weeks in labor meet
| ings. She was tireless, interchangeable, the
| typical woman organizer.
Its all moonshine, she said to me few
days ago sitting in her parlors in South
| Washington square, where she teaches
classes in elocution and French, and which
are filled with paintings, quaint old engrav-
| ings, bits of sculpture, books, bric-a-brac
etc, to degree that would indicate some
thing of genius for collection as well as
| for socialtheories.
Nine. Delescluze herself is a woman of
| strong, intelligent face, square forehead,
| heavy, dark hair, and an expression of ener-
gy, activity and good -nature
"lt's all moonshine, she repeated "Sev-
enteen years ago the editor of a big city
| paper leaned back in his editorial chair,
smiled quizzically at me and said: It's
| hard work to reform the world | flushed
all over with Indignation that he should
take it SO coolly, so unfeelingly. l would
| have lived on pound of oatmeal a week. |
would have starved to advance the cause of
unity, of brotherhood, of harmony, the very
| names Of which made me thrill every time
| heard them. But I've given up the world s
business to attend to my own now. Social
| ism is very fine in theory, but the material
is too poor to work with. Over and over
again have told the workingmen if they
would really unite without jealousy every
thing was in their own hands, If they
would give up beer and tobacco for few
years they might own their homes and
smoke all they pleased by and by. They
could stop every ocean steamer, tie up
every train, cut off every Geographic mes
sage, hold civilization in their power, for
would have gone that far to see what be-
| lieved in triumph, till it acknowledged that
| it couldn't get on without them aud that
they were the masters after ali. But they
are splitup into factions and they will never
come together for any effective work No
labor candidate will ever poll as many
votes again as Henry George got They
are jealous man of man and eager to pull
one another down.
The women9 Oh, the McGlynn fight has
taken many of them out of the labor organ
izations. They are largely Catholics and
they follow the priests" And Nine Deles-
clue indicated tnat she regarded many OF
her former associates cranks and
dreamers and socialism itself as
dream 10 be realized only in the
millennium when all men are good and desire
only good things. AS if to confirm the
English saying thata conservative is rad
ical gone to seed sue intimateda belief that
the reading and writing of laboring people dc
make them discontented, and that suffrage
should be restricted much more closely than
it is now.
Nine. Delescluze is woman whose vigor
of character and of thought entitle her tc
be called emarkable. and, having shifted
her ground, she has done so decslvely Not
all the social theorists give up their task as
a hopeless case as she has done. On the
contrary, the number of women among the
socialists was probably never so great as
now. Take such a woman as Mrs. Isabella
Hinton, the wife of Col. Hinton, who is an
acknowledged leader in the socialstic labor
party. Mrs Hinton is an example of com
pete devotion to a cause. She is the organ
izer of the American section of the party in
Now York, as also of the Labor 14yceum
conducted by it. She often presidos aud i,
an effective speaker at the meetings. She