The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1894-03-21

the rich and the poor has virtually
been blotted out. Slavery of Negroes
has been abolished. aud the white
women have been put into their
place. The queen Of the parlor has come
down to be the maid of the kitchen.
Woman's responsibilities have been
greatly increased. In many cases,
she has been thrown on her own
resourcess and yet, strange to tell, no
adequate opening has been made for
her to earn her living. For thirty-6ve
years.. even in these circumstances, our
u written laws have allowed women
to wear life away at the sewing
machine or 10 the school-room ; but
beyond that she mus: not 90. One
of u papers has lately been discussing
the question whether being a shop
girl Injuries a young woman's chances for
matrimony. In the. first place. why
call her a shop-girl? and why not
call her a clerk, just as her brother
would be called. Is a woman a shop
girl who clerks in a store that does a
hundred thousand dollars of business
a uuuallyq No. the writer vas hunting
for a word that would sting, and found
one to suit him.
But new conditions are forcing
themselves upon us. aud we are re.
luctautly falling back. The woman
is coming to the front because neces
sity is urging her o n She must live ;
she must earn her bread. and yet there
are not places for them all to fill as
as teachers, and hence the sphere of
her labors is widening like the channel
of a stream hat is dug out by current
aud pressure. DR.. Burns, Of Stanton,
Mich, says woman is the strongest
social force of the day, and all the
doors are opening to her. Formerly
the idea Of adopting a profession
never entered the head of any except
the most audacius girl. The girl Of
to-day is born into conditions that did
not exist for her mother. In the
University Of Michigan, last year,
there were eighty-niue women who
were studying medicine. ln almost
all the great newspaper offices, wo-
men are serving either as printers or
editors, and some of our very brightest
correspondents are women, and in
stenograpby and typewriting she is
fast driving meu TO the wall. ln the
stores, too, she is finding a place. and
men are actually coming to believe
that a woman has brains enough to sell
two yards Of cloth. So also in book-keep-
ing aud t~elegrapby she is finding an open
ing, and, like Esther, she seems to
have come to the kindom for such a
time as this.
Has she taken the bit between her
teeth? No, but she has declared that
the world owes her the chance to make
a living without causing her to be snub-
bed and trodden down under the iron
heels of caste and foolish sentiment The
dormant forces Of her nature are awak-
ing to the call Of the hour, and woman
is being surprised at herself. Thirty
FIVE years ago. but o woman was en-
in the public departments at
Washington. The men seemed afraid of
her, aud put her in an attic chamber, from
which she sent her copying by a messen-
ger. Her presence below was not desired.
ia the treasury building alone
there are one thousand wonen doing
government service. and when pains
and accuracy are required, a
woman is always pat in to ill the place.
Some are asking, "Well, what next?
won't the women want to vote after
2" Suppose they do-wbat of
that? Man as a law-maker, seems to be
a. monumental failure. We hold a
legislative session this year to correct
the mistakes of last. Under all the
wise provisions devised by men. our
army is increasing fourfold as
fast as our population. do not think
[ should like to see the women going
to the ballot-box at every petty election,
but I should rejoice to have her there
when great issues are before the people.
[ do cot believe that men will ever have
sense or courage to settle the wbiskey
question unaided, and there are other
matters belonging to the world of
moral reform that only the women will
sver bring into proper adjustment.
Let us pass on, and discuss:
8. Woman's sphere Of labor IN the
talk about a. woman's sphere,
As though it had a limit,
There's not place in earth, or
heaven.
There's not a task to mankind given,
There's not a blessing or a woe,
There's not a whispered yes, or no,
There's DOT a life, or death. or birth
has a feathers WEIGHT of worth.