Omaha daily bee., 1893-12-17
WHAT SHALL We DO WITH IT?
The Fair and the Franchise in Two States
What Then7
, SPICY LECTURE BY KATE FIELD
opuiont Opportunities Tor Great, Benih-
cent Reforms IN N tai and
Industriai Lines-wHi Women
Embrace Them
lcopminhicd hn knlo Eisld.l

decided that the women Of the Centennial
state shall nenccforth stand upon an equality
with them. 1t is manly, it is just In those
men OF the great divide to place women
whore they logically belong. Now then,
what will my sisters do with the ballotl
viii they refuse to 20 to the polls. like super
fiue men of my acquaintance, who boast that
they never voted in their lives, wouldn't at
tend a political primary for the world, yet
abuse our form Of government rs being the
most corrupt on earth, which it il mott The
government is precisely what people make
it: il the best element betray the republic
by ignoring primaries and polls, they deserve
TO be taxed TO death and to undergo the
worst form of tyranny--the tyranny Of
ignorance.
Again | ask, what will Colorado women do
with their new powerl d. they realize what
sort of a governor they have, and that on
them may turn tho fate cf thor great stated
Will they bring reason TO bear on their DO
litical duties and redeem their scx from the
stigma of sentimentality with which its past
is smirohed3 DO they watch the signs Of
tho times and trim their lamps accordingly
The Unfavored Fair.
What of us women to whom the ballot Is
still deniedl Can we do nothing to stem
the LlO6 OF industrial depression Juat
threatens to submerge many struggling
souls Shall we be content to sit down and
moan at hard times and feel we have done
our whole duty by wearing old gowns, max
ing over old bonnets and discharging en-
ploycs who thereby face possible starva-
tion' VIII this sort of economy keep fac
tories going and lead to brighter skiesf
"What can we dor" l hear many women
ask. Nothing or everything. ALI depends
on yourselves, my dear sisters. BE you re-
publicans, democrats or independents, you
can, my sisters, be of incalculable benent to
your country If you once get it into your
heads that you disburse the money of the
family and that the fate of the nation hangs
on how you spend what your male kind earn.
Trade is disturbed because of proposed
changes in the tariff. Get up meetings in
oil your towns and villages and resolve that
you will reform your ways of dressing. Me-
thinks ! see all womankind fly at the bare
suggestion. There is something about the
word reform that strikes terror to the
average breast, and when used in connec-
tion with dress, freezes feminine blood and
causes feminine hair to stand on end. Whyf
Reform is a good word. II ought TO signify
whatever is best for the human race. Per-
haps this Is the reason why the human race
rebels, being slngularly unanimous in the
opinion that whatever is naughty must be
nice and that reform means the abolition of
pleasure.
Reforms Frowned Upon.
As regards dress, there is but one popular
verdict. Reform Is synonymous with ugli-
ness, If not with masculinity. And there Is
ground for this belief. The pioneers in revo-
luton are targets for rldicule. They seem
to attract eccentricity and'adventurers as
magnets attract steel filings. All the
maniacs, all the long-haired, unhinged men
and tho short-haired, loud talking women,
swarm around them and bring their cause
into disrepute. 1t is a fearful penalty to
pay for being ahead of ones time and is
prone to disgust the fastidious. Only divine
courage can face the world with a startling
idea.
What women are by nature it is presump-
tuous to assume, nature so far having had
very little and custom and society having
had a great deal to do with my sex. The
feminine product evolved from 5000
years of absolute subsection absolute
at least until the advent of Chris
tan civilization-does not look kindly on
Innovation. Women as a sex are couserva-
tive in politics, religion ami society. They
frown upon change, unless it be q fashion.
Hence their horror of reform in dress, which
is the antlpodes of fashion. The female
MIND at once pictures a very ugly, angular
woman In green glasses and male attire,
looking like a cross between the two sexes
and acting like an escaped lunatic. My
present plea, however, does not refer to a
revolution in style of dress, but to a revolu-
tion in the materials composing it. So, dear
sisters, please keep on reading.
For some years alapacas and other stiff
EngllSn 1aDrlCS nave Deen IN OlSuSe, owing
to an advance in taste, due largely to Will
liam Morris and his aesthetic school. 1t is
impossible to DO 'limp" or 10 cling in
garments that do not lend themselves to
slnuous movements: hence the soft stuffs of
France captured the market, and English
manufacturers looked on with dismay. In
stead of accepting the situation and en-
deavoring to equal If not excel their clever
nelghbors, our cousins sat down and and
grew poorer while waiting for a day that is
dead.
PatronIzIng Home Industries.
Later England's wall grew long and loud.
Appeals were made in high quarters for a
change of fashion, and Lady Beehive val.
her friends to wear stiff English goods on
every possible and impossible occasion.
Elective cloth" sounds better and seems
more insinuative than alpaca, but If report
be correct, her ladyship took her rue with a
difference. Like the patient who carefully
DISCUSSES his dose of cod-liver oil In sherry
Lady Beehive mingled alpaca with silks ana
Jewels, and thus evolved a hybrid toilet.
Failing TO obtain the support Of tn princess
OF Wales, this movement led to no reyolu
tion. Having arrived at the dregs of ugli.
ness, the world is now struggling to be more
or less picturesque, principally less.
The worth OF Lady Bectives zeal lay In its
patriotism. "My country, right or wrong, ~
is a narrow sentiment, yet IL is better for
the Individual and the state than that which
e leads American women To doubt, If not 10
despise, what is homemade. I fear, it must
be confessed, that the greatest enemies to
progress are women. Now, my sisters, 1 am
approaching the plth of my appeal and beg
you will give heed. There are more women's
clubs in this land than you can shake a
thousand sticks at. and il they will devote
this winter to carrying out q practical sug
gestion, the reason OF their existence viii
need no explanation,
Remedying Evils.
The old French proverb. "Lshat woman
wills God Wills" is so true that whenever
the majority OF my sex want any kind of re.
form they will get II. When an intelligent
woman wishes 10 help her sex she seeks hcr
allies among men and finds them. Society,
luxury, superficial education, the fear of in
curing masculine displeasure and spelling
the matrimonial market, make most women
deaf aud blind to glaring evils, Ii is pit.ful
yet IT need not be everlasting. When a
Lady Beehive advocates even so many un.
sympathetic "A fabric as alpaca, on tho sole
GROUND that English women should uphold
their own manufactures. it Is a cheering
sign OF the times. In the eyes of manly
men a woman becomes more, not less, by Low.
ing her country Are there no Lady Bec,
tives in this republicl Is there none to nd.
xnaata A ~ arian q, GOOD. a.. -