The Red Cloud chief., 1889-03-15
UNJUST DISCRIMINATION.

UNJUST DISCRIMINATION.
Deliberate Cruelty e which Many IL
them Are Guilty.
Is woman tho 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 q
civilization has progressed. Generally
speaking, the greater the degree Of
civilization of tho individual man the
moro willingly does he concede that
woman was created the equal OF the
other sex, though with different quail
ties. But there are few believers In the
equality Of tho sexes who carry
their opinions into practice even In
their own families. Theoretically the
girls Of a family are entitled to have
as much spent on their education as Il
spent on hat of 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 he fitted for 1t; to be furnished with
capital to the same extent with the
boys, and, finally. to share alike with
the boys in 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 OIL the parents are in this
worlds goods the worse are the girls
likely to fare.
1t 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 see q son
launched into the world with abundant
capital, the benefit OF his fathers finan-
cial backing. and what is better
still. the i%ncalculable advantage of the
experience of men and affairs gained
by the father in a long and successful
business career. What does the father
do for the sister Of this young man?
II the father is lucky enough to possess
. managing wife, he marries her of
early to some young fellow with APP
parently good prospects. He gives
her a dOwry not at all proportioned to
what he has given the son, and then
he is gathered to his fathers. Twenty
years afterward the o has made his
mark in the world. He is a well-oR
man with a growing and expensive
family around him. He can see ways
for all the money he has, and more,
in setting up his own sons. and he has
nothing to spare-Or, which comes to
the same thing. thinks he has nothing
to sparc-for his sister. She. poor
woman, has no: been SO lucky. Her
husband has not been successful. or
perhaps he has died after providing
her with nothing but a family of chill
dren. She finds herself at forty al.
ready old and looked upon as a failure.
though perhaps she has O of her
fathers business tact than fell to the
lot of her brother. But there she is.
poor Is a church mouse, while her
brother, having taken the major part
of the possessions of the family, has
1t the brother does as much
for her as to take her boys into his Of
fee tho world will applaud his gen.
crosby.
Discrimination like this is being
practiced every day in thousands Of
homes. II there is to be discrimina.
ton 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 OIL
as though they did not believe
it? And where do those people stand
who. maintaining that m are tho
weaker vessels. rob their daughters in
order to better equip their sons? II
the sons. in consideration OF having
the major part OF the family money
spent upon them. undertook to care
for their sisters in the event Of the lat
ter requiring help. there would be
some element Of fairness in the ar.
rangcment But sons do not under.
take any such thing. Even il they did
it they might fail to carry
out their engagements. 1t would DO
better all around If all the children Of
family were treated alike rather
than that the seed Of future chickering's
he sown by unfair preference Of
one before another.
This is a side Of the woman question
which can not be reached by law. 1t
is the outgrowth and survival Of the
time when women were chattels. and
were bought and sold like so many
sheep. Custom sanctions the DELHI
crate cruelty Of which the father is
who sacrifices his daughters
future in order that his son
may carr on the business and the
home in the old style. Every one O!
the politica' disabilities Of women can
and will bc soon removed. But the
If this social wrong will be q
work OF many years The sexes will
be equal in the eyes Of the Law for q
long time before public opinion can
make them equal in the eyes OF IA
khcrs.-Tpronto Gibbs.