The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1895-06-26
DR.. FITCH : THE NEW WOMAN = SHAKESPEARE.
The Medical Man DefieS Miss
Anthony and Her Lieu
tenant.
SAYS THEY ARE OLD MAIDS.
In Advocating Women's Rights,
He Declares, They Menace
the Republic.

DR.. George L. Fitch refuses to sit supinely
to be trodden upon by the new woman or
the advance guard of the new woman, He
is not troubled at the comments made
upon his course of action by Miss Susan B.
Anthony and Miss Anna H. Shaw, and he
doubts the ability of the former lady to
"can" him, her desire to perform which
operation was published in yesterday s
CALL.
Furthermore, the doctor does not pro-
pose to play a waiting game. Already he
has taken up the cudgels in his own be-
half, and is preparing paper for publica-
ton, which he will entitle "Woman's
Rights-Humanity's Wrong" He has it
partially completed and is merely awaiting
the arrival of some statistics which he
needs before launching the publication to
the world.
"I'm in this fight to stay" said the
doctor yesterday, wher seen at his
offices in the new Spreckels building,
''and I propose to have something to say
on this new woman proposition. It's all
bosh-it's more than that, it is an absolute
menace to the life of the Nation and the
endurance of the Republic. 1t is a matter
of principle with me, and not a contro-
VetSy between Miss Anthony, Miss Shaw
and myself. | do not care to answer their
structures upon myself, but l will say that
it looks little strange that a couple of old
maids should be trotting around the coun-
try teaching married people how to bring
up their families and wives how to man.
age their households. Why do they do it .?
1t pays them to do it, that's why. They
are feted and dined and lodged by it, and
put money in the bank for themselves by
it. That's why. Can they contradict
that?
"But that's neither here nor there The
whole controversy on the new woman
narrows down to the relationship of hus-
band and wife. I'll just give you a few
figures to show you how far we go in an
swer to the first question. By the census
of 1890 it is shown that 5000 per cent of our
men at % years of age are unmarried; that
1898 per cent at 80 years of age are I'M
married; and that 26.5 per cent of those at
35 years OF age are unmarried. What
happens under such condition? The OBJ
servers will have no trouble in answering
the question; and we all know that mar
rage is the only way to preserve social
purity.
Now, why do make these quotations
from the census? Simply to show that
this entire woman's rights business-thiS
advocacy of the independence of the new
woman-is an argument in favor of licen-
tiousness and in opposition to personal
purity. With the new woman in the field,
men can no longer afford to marry from
the fact that they cannot longer earn a
living for their families. The women are
downtown taking the places of men right
aloEg-not because they are as capable of
filling those places, but because their SER
vices can be had cheaper; and when these
women do marry-wel1, twenty five per
cent of the marriages in this State, at
least, terminate in the divorce courts.
dow low
ton of cases, is just legalized partner
ship. because parenthood is neglected.
"And the truth of the matter is that these
parties who are going around the country
preaching that women's main and only
object in life should be to act as mans
rival in the race of life are just simply do
ing all they can to destroy this Nation.
Any person who by act, word or deed at
tempts TO destroy the institution of mar
rage and true, honest parenthood is rebel
against God and traitor to the old flag.
1.-THE real facts of this new woman bust
ness" continued the doctor, becoming
thoroughly imbued with his subject, land
the facts in the case, as matters are going
now in the United States among native
Americans, are that We are very little be-
hind France, where the birth rate is very
much less than the death rate and the ma
ton is rapidly dying out. This is due in
France to the fact that the men are not al
lowed TO marry and bring up children as
they should do because there are SO many
of them in the army. Here it is due to
the fact that competition is so keen between
men and the new and cheaper woman that
1t is difficult for men to get positions out
OF which they can support a family, and,
still further, to the disgust that every true
man must feel for the new woman-for
this unsexed creature, the new woman. 1t
is also due to other causes of which shall
treat in the article which I am Drenarino
"To conclude with the arguments ad-
vanced by Miss Anthony and Miss Shaw,
L would state that they are wrong on their
statistics. l would not say knowledge, but
they are undoubtedly wrong. For in
stance in an article in to-day's CALL, see
that they state that there are more women
than men in Massachusetts. 1 would Just
refer them to the last census of Massa-
chusetts, which shows that there are 4O12
more single males in Massachusetts, than
there are females. / imagine that the GEN.
sus is correct and the Misses Shaw and