The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1894-04-24
woMAN's WORLD IN PARAGRAPHS.
Is 1t True That Mothers Are Corrupters OF
Public Morals?

An English woman, Mrs. Crackan-
| thorpe, makes some rousing charges
against the mothers of today, especial
| " mothers in the circles of fashionable
society. She declares that their tyran-
ny in keeping their young lady daugh-
tiers down in the old conventional rats
of two centuries ago, when all the rest
of the world except women have long
got out of them, is not to be borne any
longer. She enters a plea f0Y fine indi
viduality of the daughter, for her right
to take her own head for things and de-
velop her mind as it wants to go-pot
to do anything morally wrong, but just
to lead her own life intellectually, in
dustrially or professionally without be-
ing weighted down by Mrs. Grundy.
The old assumption that girl will nee
essarily go wrong if allowed her own
way is cruel superstition. She should
be instructed in all the dangers that lie
before her and then allowed her free
dom, as her brother is allowed his.
Whatever she does, it is certain that
she will make better use of that free
dom than the average boy does. The
conventionality which has shaped every
girl for only one calling-marriage
an instrument of torture as cruel as any
that ever crushed heretics in the days
of the old Inquisition. Mrs. Crackan-
thorpe says that to the young girl mar
riage is still sacrament to her mother
it is commercial transaction. The
mother is anxious only for one thing
to marry the girl to somebody who will
support her and keep her from causing
trouble or talk. In too many cases the
man is acceptable in the face of a notori
GUS past. The mother forces him upon
her daughter regardless of his morals
or habits of dissipation. She shoves the
girl off upon him with indecent haste
and after the child is sacrificed con-
graduates herself that the victim has
married WELL" She pursues like
hawk the manageable man and hurls
her daughter at his head. This anxiety
of mothers to throw away their pure,
sweet girls upon rakes and libertines
has lowered the whole tone of society
and allowed the Hbertine to consider
himself, with a long career of dissi pa
ton behind him, good enough to marry
the sweetest, gentlest girl that ever wor-
SHIPPED an ideal lover and husband.
Yes, mothers are responsible for the
corruption of society's morals.
Here is an observation from the New
York Press that ought to make women
| ashamed of themselves. The shame of
| it is in its exact truth: 1.-The narrow
scope of feminine endeavor in the past
| has been largely due TO prejudices and
customs which have been foStered by
| feminine conservatism.
I heard good story last night. a
young man laid his heart and fortune
at the feet of girl with profession.
He said quite self complacently: Il
will take you west with me, and you
can also take your father and mother.
I will support you all henceforth, and
you will not need to work. My earn
ings are 81, 500 a year. 'sOh, but
make 5000 a year now," answered
the young woman. 1t was not match.
A young lady friend of mine who is
studying law was arguing the question
of woman suffrage with a girl who is
employed in dry goods establishment.
The dry goods girl is one of the buyers
| for large firm. She goes to Europe
responsible as that of any in the great
house. Her salary is So, 900. My friend
| was talking in favor of woman suffrage.
the dry goods girl said: ''Of course
believe in equal pay for equal work,
and all that sort of thing. but draw
| the line on women g voting and unsex-
ing themselves by going to the polls and
associating with men," My girl law stu
dent simply asked: 'tWould it unsex
you to marry manf'' The dry goods
young woman had nothing to say.
It is said certain Chinese sect teach
es that if women become vegetarians
| they will go to heaven when they die
and be turned into men. If this were
true, it would be enough to make all
| the vegetarian women turn to be great
meat eaters at once.
The only reason I ever heard given
| by woman for wanting to be man
was the greater freedom that men en-
| Joy. But we should take our freedom
as women. 1t will come to us in rich
measure just as it does to men. We
| have only to reach out our hands and
| take it.
4 1hAoo 4-ilHaOClA oIS zAb cS1Ahotoh ~
| adding to the fine array of historic writ
ing already accomplished by her boys
book about General Washington. Miss
Johnston has had access to material
| such as few writers have had, and her
| book will be most attractive one. An
| other line of her literary labor is the
| writing of dialect stories, particularly
| stories in negro dialect. Here Miss
Johnston, herself a southern woman, has
few equals. She gives also readings
/ from her dialect stories that bring down
| the house. Miss Johnston is an aunt of
| the sweet voiced singer, Marie Decca.
f! It is remarkable that near the same
| time two novelists-a man and wom-
| an, W. T. Stead and Sarah Grand-have
| chosen for a heroine the emancipated
new girl of the future, whom they de-
1 Dict in glowing c0iOYS She is as differ