The Helena independent. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1875-1943, 1892-06-09
\ lko1S Prominent "A the Cause q the
SIX Unmsriting the Dis
EsS paragsmsnt
of Prominent Women Love-
III ia character and Home
sss Life.


i sonl 3dAsl ID beinR said OF the EuRlAh
AS...,... A condemnation OF what are
mr. vina woman; and all thoss who a.
1900 those reforms in education, IN
S,as.. M social relation, in politics, in home
nv II vhich women are interested, are BY
smnliaatior or specifically dubbed wild.
frAis vill mot do. ! have Anown or now
rnnv nsarly al tho prominent leaders Of
1he vomsn's rsform measures OF she pass
forty years and never saw nvs vho were
iurAlv held 10 lack refined femininity. In
~ judgment Susan B. Aathony. Who mas
dawn many shafts Of ridicule, has no other
SaniA b a lack of handsome features.
np ths platform ~ have had very few
rSrsoos Of either sex eassssaed OF more
Soundiy logical powers. IL Isl delight to
ghsas her caim deliberate approach to ths
ol4adel. and the assault that follows 10 a
uf atatistios and unoontested data. lHer
ifnxless career will place hsr high In the
annels 81 women anything but wild. OF all
voman I syeY hoard who was more schol-
arly. 81 able TO defend herself and her sex,
without reference 10 sex. than Mrs. Leon
owens, who for twelve years was governess
al the present king of Siam. A wonderful
woman. full Of executive power and OF
learning. Mrs. Elizabeth Cady Stan
con ID n OF the nobiest OF
women. both in appearance and in
character. Her predominant trait
nv courage. She has suffered much from
dor we'll known radical religious views, ~
we'll 10 hsr defiance Of popular opinion con-
corning woman's sphere, but she is 80 far
frOm being ! wild woman that abe il the
yery ideal OF social refinement. Her elo-
ussncs 10 never sullied by scolding. Lucy
EtpAs ID ! different character. With her.
pathos and sweetness Of temperament oozne
10 Tho front. A philanthropist first, she
is On advocate OF woman's rights only
second. Her husband, DR.. Blackwell,
~ ths more rigid partisan, but . max eapa-
bls OF most fully recognizing the great
neal Of the woman who Walks WITH him
through life. Mrs. Stone ia capable OF the
most generous courtesy toward her oppo-
usnts, and il never offensive in her ad-
yecacy Of her sex-that 10. to persons who
says not bound in letters of bitter prsju-
dice. Il is q rare audience that will not
listen with respect. and finally with SYM
pathy. 10 Mrs. Stones tender pleas tor Jus.
1ice. She, like the others named, does not
oouins herself to . discussion of
womsn,s rights to political liberty.
Probabiy Of those who have stood on
IA thA platform no one has proved more
generally acceptable to a popular audience
than Mrs. Livsrmore. Her graceful and
womanly bearing, q fine combination of
strength and beauty, her humor and ability
Is make strong points, mako her captivat-
Inc. / have seen immense audiences listen
to her with ~intentness and avidity. such a.
has rarely been manifested toward any ora
tof Of the other sex. Al home Mrs. Liver
more ID : lover Of the garden and trees.
These are soms Of the most noted of the
leaders in womsn's work before the public
a. speakers. Another list might easily be
made Of a class of writer's from Mrs. He
mans and Mrs. Child down to tie editors,
8g such as Mary Mapes Dodge, n the long
LIST OF story writer's. like Miss Murfree and
Mrs. Woolley, and the more world famous
George Eliot and Mrs. Browning and joan
lngslow. Indeed, 4 %half-dozen lists could
be- made classifying these women; and l
I'm sure no ono would call th.m wild, or
call mo wild for refusing to consider them
otherwise than as an honor to the sex As
well a. TO the race. There really 10 moth
inR ugly about them, nothing ''out-
Tagsous."
But the two classes that do not seem to
b. most worthy Of vitupsration on the part
81 the defenders OF things 90 they were,
and NO change foreyermose, are, first, the
unsexed woman-for there are such. They
are not champions of woman's rights, but
defenders of NO restraints or limitations
whatever on anybody. That 10 at least
Whist il amounts to. And then girls or
womsn really are not such outlaws either.
They are generally persons who are sup
posed to be peculiarly capable of taking
care Of themselves. They are mostly en-
gagged In Gome usesul employment, ~ are
not positively bad; only they have nsver
thought matters through in any di
d 5.ss'on; in Hs ,gs;s blood, q touch tSsx oDs Of
lenge the world to lay down laws for them.
But Of all whom / have seen of these girls
and women none of them are rs much to 70
seprehended, or are in as much moral IAN
ger as the slaves of custom, the chapSroned
victims of social laws. II any girl is posi-
lively sure of being made indecent and
worthless, it is not hat one who studies
the nude. even in the company of male ar
fists. and who paints the nude. but it is the
girl who exhibits the nude ut evening par
ties. and dances the lascivious under Tho
guarding eye of conservative disbelieverl
in woman's freedom to choose fol
herself, A second class. justly dis
patched by the tomahawk of Mrs
the term wild women" is the NAL,
creature who hangs on to women's clubs
as q sort OF q barnacle. becomes Il specia
defender of the rights of the other sex
and writes eulogiums for all of her ex-
travagances. "The truth is simply this
the unsexed woman plsases the unsexet
mar" This ID not the only age In whicI
carpet knights and amazons have made
sectional amalgam wherein is nsiths1
wholesomeness OR beauty" "DomiReer
ing women choose sifeminato men whoI
they can rule at will. Etfeminat
men fall back Oh r~esolute and energeti
women" This is IA picture Of a sma
group-a group made up of individual
flung of by tho natural and wholesome bu
Iather rapid movements of social progress
but l think l have before called Attentio
In the Globe Democrat to the fact that j
an age like this of universal education thel
IL q steady approximation of the sexes j
qualification of mind and heart; women a
gaining more of strength, men are gainin
more OF g~entlensBs and tenderness. An
this drift toward an equilibrium will gro
fog some time 10 come; and little harm. bl
much good will come of it.
A few women nave become notorious /
political hararRues Of a level with tho
which dishonor the other sex. That the
should therefore be entitled wild l cann'
seq, unless at tho same time you desiQnA
Men wild who indulge In partisan or ran
ing speeches, without designing to tell 81
truth. or advance the right. No one pr
tends that these fellows are admirabl
They are hucksters of trickery and stal
ness, n have no aim higher tn,
securing ~pecuniary compensation
selling themselves, or such small portiS
of themselves IA ia discovsrable. A WON,
as q rule enters the political field only (
moral ends. Naturally she lacks " tas
for cnuousses, and barrel orAtory, and t
lew noisy DISCLAIMERS who have been exec