The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1895-10-05
Facts of Interest
/ sTO@WOr1lerl sReaders.
Symposium of Information, Partly Grave,
Partly Cosby and Partly Gay.

World to say: Any cause can be bur-
lesQued by clever people. The Chris
tian religion itself passed through the
stage of rldlcule. but burlesQue or car
feature can never laugh down a worthy
cause. Byron said that the author of
"Don Quixote" laughed Spain's chivalry
AWAY. But chivalry was already slid
ing into oblivion. Don Quixote" gave
1t only an additional impetus toward
the gulf. The basic idea developed In
"A Contented Woman" Is that IL the
women vote and hold office they must
N in earnest. make guys of themselves.
and will be necessarily homcly and
masculine. II they are married they
will bully their weak. poor-spirited
spouses. II they are pretty. fashion,
able. but not In earnest. and only tempt
ed into the project by caprice or rest
lessnesss or a craving for some new ex-
cremest, they will soon tire of II and
abandon II in disgust. The play of "A
Condented Woman" however, Is f0ir In
one respect. Intentionally or otherwise.
ii shows that under masculine manage
ment politics has 80 degenerated that
woman can not make 1t worse: that. In
deed. 1t Is 80 had as to really make her
worse and to degrade her fine sensibili-
ties and moral instincts. Even then
the auxillaries which In this play the
voting and office-seeking women rally
TO their side are far superior In retlne-
ment and Intelligence to the saloon
keepers. gamblers and toughs which
surround the man candidate and aid
him In his campaign. The man candi-
date makes a night Of 1t and goes the
round Of debauchery In THE saloons and
slums for the sake OF securing voses at
..h mi lfstn .,,.u a q
only shady woman in the play. whose
aid is sought by the woman candidate,
Is graceful, Intelligent. almost elegant.
in her demeanor and manner and pre-
seuts a most happy contrast to the
drunkar>is and rutfians whom the mas
culine candidate has to fee. feed and
promise In order to secure their influ-
ence and obtain the votes they claim
to control.
-:o:-
According to the play, woman will In
troduce an element into politics that
will not be coarse. repulsive, brutal and
outrageous The success of the enfran-
olhssement OF women will not very much
depend upon the heroics that may en-
wrap the subject; or Its failure be
brought about by the amusement that
wit and artful skill may be able to eX-
tract from It. It will depend upon the
education Of women and upon their sus-
ceptibility to the great duties and ques-
tions of the day. So long as the time
OF most Of them ts mainly occupied with
falling in love, marrying. rearing a
family and caring for their households.
they will find little leisure in the larger
political questions of the day. In muni-
ctpal questions they certainly will. how
ever. because the consequences of un-
gathered garbage. bad sewerage and
scores Of municipal evils fall heavily
upon them. making their family duties
more difficult and burdensome. If they
can find relief in the ballot from the
growing nuisance that men make of
city governments. to the ballot they will
so. And a wilderness of playwrights
no matter how witty, and regiments of
authors, no matter how we'll equipped
won't stop them, when sufficient num-
bers sufficiently feel the profound i'm
portance Of the ballot to make life
easier and more comfortable for them.
To-
SELECTED RECIPES:
Peach Custard Pe.-Use one crust; peel