The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1890-01-18
WHAT WOMEN ARE ABOUT.
FLOTsAM AND JETSAM GATHERED
az ELIZA ARCHARD CONNER.

Remarkable Article on the Woman Cues
ton BY Grant Alien-A Racling Inven-
tion-women Voters Who Pray-Young
Ladies' for Private Secretaries.
Copyright 1901
That was a remarkable article on the
woman question by Grant Allen, re
printed in The Popular Science Monthly
from The English Fortnightly Review.
Mr.. Allen contends that men are far
more advanced on the real woman ques-
ton than women themselves are.
Briefly his views and those of lad
vanced" men are: Give every advan-
tage of property, education, etc, to
women. Give them political activity,
personal independence and physical cul-
ture. Let the ones that must earn their
own living have every facility for doing
so. But, after all, marriage and the
general support of women by the men
of a community are the true ideal. Half
the children born die in infancy. In
order to keep the race going at its pres
ent number, every woman must average
four children. If she is the mother she
should be to these, she cannot have time
for much else. The maintenance and
highest development of the race are of
the first Importance, therefore women
should be released from bread win
ming, rs a rule. Mothers women
must be, whether they are wives
or not In the estimation of Grant
Allen and the advanced men,
and the motherhood is of infinitely more
importance than the wifehood. 1t may
be necessary TO reconstruct the whole
system of society and of the relations Of
the sexes, Mr.. Allen hints, in order
that mothers may be "as strong, as wise,
as free, as sane, as healthy, as earnest
and as efficient as we can make them"
This reconstruction he believes men are
more ready for than women. Gas a
body we are, think, prepared to recon-
slider, and to reconsider fundamentally,
without prejudice or preconception, the
entire question of the relations between
the sexes-which is great deal more
than the women are prepared to do.
The slavishness begotten in
women by the regime of men is what we
have most to fight against, not the slave
driving instinct of the men-now hap
PLY becoming obsolete, or even changing
into sincere desire to do equal justice"
Mr.. Allen apparently forgets that in
the ideal civilization, which we are APP
preaching, half the children born will
no longer die in infancy. Also, as to
women's marrying or remaining single,
it is to be hoped he will graciously per-
NIT them to do as they please about it.
A woman has invented bath shoe
and music rack. When will a man in
vent something better than music rack
and bath shoe? Far too many of the
sex make racking music already.
1t is becoming the custom, and very
good one it is, too, for busy women to
have young ladies for private secreta-
ries. The feminine private secretary is
especially useful to women who have
heavy social duties to perform. She
keeps the run of the visiting list, an
swers notes and makes engagements and
excuses. Her duties require an excel
lent education, high bred manners and
the greatest tact and delicacy. Mrs
Morton, wife of the vice president, has
such secretary in the person of Miss
Nellie Hunt, daughter of the late minis
ter to Russia. Mrs. Whitney had
charming young lady private secretary
when her husband was secretary of the
navy. In the play of the future, the son
of the house will fall in love with the
private secretary instead of with the
governess.
In the cities women in the trades and
professions who club together in twos
and threes and take apartments and
keep house for themselves are called girl
bachelors. They make dainty and beau
tiful homes, and are too busy to quar-
rel. The fact that women can thus live
together in peace and harmony is sure
sigh of the rapid evolution of the sex.
The girl bachelor has come to stay.
Henry George on the woman question:
81 do not propose to attempt to answer
the question as to the best field for wo-
mans work. Women should answer
that themselves"
Miss Sartain has established in her
school Of design at Philadelphia wo-
mans life class for study from the nude.
Whereupon The Ledger ventures to hope
that the wooden lay figure that now rep
resents the human form in the pictures
of ambitious women artists will grad
ually disappear from the canvas. Wo-
men, too, are beginning to recognize
that if an artist does any work worth
while, he must paint his figures from
the living model.
Mrs. Emma Forsythe, who has $50, 900
acres of land on an island near New
Guinea, is the largest real estate owner
in the world. She gives employment to
more than 500 people.
The New York Woman's Press club has
been launched under splendid auspices,
with Jenny June Mrs. j. G Croly) as its
president.
At the last Boston municipal election
there was feature unique in the history
of balloting. Women voted for men,