The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1893-09-22
WOMEN In POLITICS.
The Prominent Part They liay at Elec-

The Prominent Part They riay at Elec-
tions in England. r
The part the women play in m English
election is one Of the things which no
American can accept as an improvement
over our own methods. 1t may either
amuse him or shock him, but he would
not care to see it adopted at home. The
canvassing in the country from cottage to
cottage he can understand: that seems
possible enough, 1t takes the form of a
polite visit to the tenants, and the real OBJ
ject Is cloaked with a few vague inquiries
about the health of the children or the
condition of the crops, and the tract1ike
distribution of campaign documents. But
in town it is different. The invasion of
bachelor apartments by young Primrose
DANES Is embarrassing and un-nice, and
is the sort of thing we would not allow
our sisters to do; and the house-to-house
canvass in the alleys of Whitechapel or
results in insult and personal abuse, is, to
u way of thinking, a simple impossible
ity. The English, as a rule, think we
allow our women to do pretty much as
they please, and it is true that they do in
many things enjoy more freedom than
their British cousins, but the men in u
country are not so anxious to get into
OllCC, SlCCuy do O1Cy dIc dltGI IL, DIS W
allow their wives, in order to attain that
end, to be even subject to noyan
certainly not to be stoned and hustled off
their feet or splattered with the mud of
the Mile End Road. Any one In England
who followed the election last year knows
to the wife of which distinguished
candidate and to the daughters of which
cabinet minister l refer.
/ have seen women of the best class
struck by stones and eggs and d ad ish.
and the game did not seem to me to be
worth the candle. l confess that at the
time l was so intent in admiring their
pluck that it appeared to ME as rather
mn than otherwise, but from this calmer
distance | can see nothing in the active
work of the English oma in politics
which j~ustihes the risks she voluntarily
runs of insult and indignity and bodily
injury. A seat in the House would hardly
repay a candidate for the loss of one of his
wife's eyes, or OF all of his sisters front
teeth, and, though that is putting it bru-
tally, it is putting it fairly.
It would not be fair, however. if I left
the idea in the readers mind that the
women go into this work unwillingly. On
the contrary. they delight in it, and some
of them are as clever at it as the men, and
go to as great lengths, from Mrs. LaAgtry,
who plastered her house from pavement to
roof with red and white posters for the
SOAsCI Vde1FC CluOiOdtc, W tuc OuCueSSeS
who sat at the side of the member for
Westminster, and regretted that it threat
ened to be an orderly meeting. 1t is also
only fair to add that many of the most
prominent Englishmen in politics are as
much opposed to what they call the
interference of women in matters political
as they are to bribery and corruption,
and regard both elements of an electoral
campaign with o pronounced disfavor.
The reply which the present President of
the United States made to those enthusi-
astic and no doubt well meaning ONE
who wished to form leagues and name
them after his wife, il ustrates the spirit
with which the interference IF women in
politics is regarded in this country. But
then 1t is a new thing with us, and it is
only right to remember that from the
days of the Duchess of D~eyonshire's
sentimental canvass to the present,
English women have taken q part in
general elections; that there is a precedent
for it. and when you have SAID that of
anything English, You have justified 1t for
all time to come. The young American
girl who would not think it proper to
address men from a platform and give
them a chance to throw things ut her,
must remember that the English girl
would not give the man she knew a cup
OF tea in the afternoon unless her mother
were In the room to take care of her.
Aud | am sure the women in MY Candi-
dates campaign almost persuaded me
that they, as the political agent declared,
did more than himself to win the election
Harding DaUis, In Hurper's
f0t. Sp1lj pm bp1.