The Portland daily press., 1888-03-30
INCOMPETENT BUT AccouNTA-
BILE.
Lille oevereux Blake on the Laws
Regard for Women.

WASHINGTON, March 29.-The morning
session of the International Council OF Wo-
men was opened with an invocation by lsa-
bella Beecher Hooker, sister Of the late Hen
nv Ward Beecher Mrs. Matilda Joslin Gage
presided. The topic of the morning was
Organization" As Mrs. Julia Ward Howe
was the first orator Of the morning the audi
ence sang ''The Battle Hymn Of the Repub-
lie" in her honor Mrs. Howe spoke first OF
the human body as a model for the body lso-
eial and polite. Its name has been largely
borrowed for symbol Of associated action.
An organization is something more than an
organism. 1t represents, besides the me-
chanical power Of combination found In ami
NAL communities. the designing power OF the
human intellect. 1t is important for us to
ascertain what organization can and what 1t
cannot do. Itcan affect general and particu-
lar unifcations of feeling and interest. But
as it works with human materials, 1t cannot
escape the doom and danger OF things hui
man. One Of its problems is the reconcilia-
tionof the far and the near; the regulation
Of relations between the particular and the
general. In order to maintain these in in
tegrity, the central principle must be genu-
inc. Organization must found Itself upon
universal and availing interest. But as
great names are often made TO serve merely
personal ends, there must be much detail OF
observations, and suggestions between the
central power and its distant representa-
tions.
Mrs Howe was followed by Mrs. Mary +.
Eastman of Boston, Rev. Amanda Deyos and
Mrs. Abby Morton Diaz.
Mrs Marcella M. Hill, Of Dover. ". H.,
oood . .vaa intr0duQQd and smoke Of the
work of the Free Baptist Society. Mrs. M.
Louise Thomas, delegate frsm Sorosis, gave
an outline of the history OF women's clubs In
the country. Sorosis Is strictly woman's
club to which men are admitted but one day
In the year, and is composed almost entirely
of literary women, who meet for intellectual
as well as physical refreshment. Inree SUP
jects are never touched upon, religion, poll
tics and woman suffrage.
the founder Of Sorosis. She delighted In the
companionship Of good women. Woman's
clubs always represented the moral aspect OF
women's lives. Mrs. May Wright Sewall
and Miss willard continued the the subject
of organization. 1t was announced by Miss
Anthony that the President would receive
the council tomorrow afternoon at $50.
The first speaker Of the evening session
was Lille Deyereux Blake, ON The Legal
der the English law, marriage is to woman
civil DEATH In all Of the Southern, and In
some Of the Northern States, the wife has
no right to her property or her earnings In
many of the Northern, and most OF the
Western States, these provisions have been
modified to the extent Of property rights Sc
cured to wives. Yet even In the States
where married women may enjoy their own
earnings, they have no claim to their chill
dren, New Jersey, Kansas and Iowa alone
securing to the mother the legal control OF
her Offspring. In the other States the father
can give away a child during his life, and
will it away after his death. without his
wife's knowledge or consent. This cruel
law places fearful weapon In mems hands,
which has been used in thousands OF cases
to wiring wOmen's hearts. One OF the most
oppressive legal disabilities Is that every dol
lar Of the joint earnings OF the marriage CO.
partnership belongs TO the husband alone.
Women never have been secured In the right
of a trial by a jury Of their peers. While
treated as legally incompetent TO make the
laws, they are held to full accountability Tor
their violation.
Mrs. Alice Scatcherd of Leeds, England,
spoke Of the legal conditions OF women in
the three kingdoms. Single women in Eng
land, Scotland and Ireland, have nearly the
same property rights as men but the law OF
intestcy bears equally hard on ALL Before
1871, the property holding rights Of married
women were nil Since 1882, woman does
not, by marriage, lose all control OF her prop
erty. A women now can make a contract
with her husband, and enter into business
with him. Even now, In England, the hus-
band has the right to leave his wife penni-
less at his death.