The St. Johns herald., 1889-07-18
UNJUST DISCRIMINATION.
Deliberate Cruelty of Which Many Fa- thers Are Guilty.

therS Are Guilty.
 Is woman the equal of man? The
 question has been asked many thou
 sands of times and answered with
 fierce negatives, which, however, have
 been growing fainter and fainter as
 civilization has progressed. Generally
 speaking, the greater the degree of
 civilization of the individual man the
 more willingly does he concede that
 woman was created the equal of the
 other sex, though with different quali-
 ties. But therc are few believers in the
 equality of the sexes who carry
 their opinions into practice even in their own families. Theoretically the girls of a family are entitled to have i as much spent on their education as is spent on that cf the boys; to have the
 same care bestowed upon fitting them
 to fight this worlds battle as is be-
 slowed upon the boys; to have a busi-
 ness or profession chosen for them and
 to be fitted for it; 10 be furnished with
 capital to the same extent with the
 boys, and, finally, to share alike with
 the boys i'll the partition of the family
 property on the death of the parents.
 In how many Canadian homes is this
 equitable treatment of the daughters
 carried out? In few, we opine, and
 the better off the parents are in this
 world goods the worse are tho girls likely to fare.
 It is too much the habit of fathers
 to spend all their means in pushing
 along their sons, leaving the daughters
 to take the chances in the matrimonial
 lottery. Hence we often sec 8 son
 launched into the world with abundant capital, the benefit of his fathers finan- cial backing, and what is better still. the incalculable advantage of the experience of men and affairs gained by the father in long and successful business career. What does the father do for the sister of this young man? If the father is lucky enough to possess managing wife, he marries her off early to some young fellow with ap- parentiy good prospects. He gives her dowry not at all proportional to what he has given tho son, and then he is gathered to his fathers Twenty years afterwari tho son has made his mark in the world. He is a well-off man with a growing and expensive family around him. He can see ways for all the money he has, anl more, in setting ID his own sons, and he has nothing to spare-or, which comes to the same thing, thinks he has nothing to spare-for his sister. Sho, poor woman, has not been So lucky. Her husband has not been successful, or perhaps he has died after providing her with nothing but 8 family of chil- dren. She finds herself at forty al- ready old and looked upon as failure, though perhaps she has more of her fathers business tact than fell to the lot of her brother. But there she is, as poor as church mouse, while her brother, having tal:3n the major part of the possessions of tho family, has plenty. Ii the brother does a5 much for her as to take her boys into his o;- flee the world will applaud his gen. erosity.
 Discrimination like this is being practiced every day in thousands of homes. If there is to be discrimina- tion among children, should it not be in favor of the girls instead of against them? What IS the good of admitting the equality of the sexes if the people who admit it act towards their own off, spring as though they did not believe it? And where do those people stand who, maintaining that women are the weaker vessels, rob thcir daughters in order to better equip their sons? If the sons, in consideration of having the major part of tho family money spent upon them, u2lorsook to care for their sisters in the event Of the lat ter requiring help. there would be some element of fairness il the ar rangement. But sons do not under take any such thing. Even if they did undertake it they might fail to carry out their engagements. It would be better all around if all the children of a family were treated ali!1c rather than that the seed of future bicl1crings 1 should bo sowl by unfait preference of one before another.
 This is a side of tho woman question | which can not bo reached by law. It | is the outgrowth and survival of the time when women were cAattels, and | were bought and sold like so many sheep. Custom sanctions the delib- crate cruelty of which the father is guilty who sacrifices his daughters earthly future in order that his son may carry on the business and the home in the old style. Every one of the political disabilities of women can and will be soon removed. But the of this social wrong will be work of many years. The sexes will be equal in tho eyes of the law for long time before public opinion can make them equal in the eyes of fa-