The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1895-07-31
W0MAN'S POSITION.
WHAT " WAS BY MATURE AND WHAT
MAN hAs NAOE N.

"FHIf Nf"| FftAh W
ini"ndsd Dor Maternity snd torashe~p.r. y.
Man, Are Driven in,o occup.,isns that
We've once onis Doe Nsn some very
riain rsih.
Tho roiiomiion ~ any statement, how
ever Important or timely. iss,unes mo.
notunuusl but ~ long ~ miarhievous
ideas a'' promulgated they must te met
and discroditod. though n be- seventy
/ times s'Yon aud more Otherwise the
world would remain etenally In error
/ IL viii bo admitted. even by the most
/ radical ~ the so called wuman's right.
advocates, that. Ia conformity to her
/ peculiar physical organization, the e..
male of the human race has bsssn espe.
cially created b. perform a specific work
IN the domestic economy. This il, com
prehensively stated. 10 bear children and
maintain the home. On the other hand.
1t was mnuifestly intended that the
male Of the human race should cherish
and prutuct her, assuming the sovercr
| physical labor which must he performed
and shielding her from every danger
that might threaten the health. happi-
ness and perpciuation Of the species. In
the original plan one duty was not re
gardcd subordinate or inferior 10 the
other. Nature had simply divided the
burden Of existence, assigning 10 one the
active part Of providing food and shell.
ter, and 20 the other the more important
part in the reproduction Of the Species
to strip it Of all its sentimentality and
state it plainly.
But in this, as in all things else, the
majority Of men have subVerted tho
law of nature and have promulgated the
theory that they. the actual earners Of
wealth, owe little 90 women who mere.
ly raise children and preside over the
home which they, the men, have found.
ed and which they alone work TO sus.
tain. This assigns maternity and home
keeping to an inferior position and places
the mother and the head Of the house
hold in the attitude Of dependent, who
must be content with whatever the hus.
band and father sees fit TO give her, dis
regarding common justice and that
which is her rightful due-the absolute
and equal division Of all that aocrues
through his work and hor economy.
The increasing love Of luxury among
men, the comfort which club life pro.
vides, with emigration from thickly
populated centers to remote fields of in
dustry, have reduced the number of mar.
riageable men in many states This,
with the unwillingness Of the few TO
accept the dependence Of the nature de-
scribed above, has also largely increased
the number of unmarried women who
choose to, or are forced to, provide for
themselves. Whether they belong TO one
class or the other. it remains none the
less certain that whatever income they
are 10 have they must acquire by their
own efforts. They have no other alter
native, unless they are willing to accept
the distasteful charity of wealthy friends
or relatives, or join the army Of the lost,
whose brief season of ease and luxury
almost inevitably ends in the prison,
the almshouse or the potter's field
And yet again and again, and stfll
again, solemn exhortations are sounded
from the pulpit warning woman" from
deserting the home, her proper sphere,
to join the feverish multitudes who
crowd the marts and highways of tho
world. Women themselves, weak. fool
ish and unthinlsing, sclfshly satisfied
with their own seclusion, echo the sense
less and crnel command.
For 1t is cruel, as heartless as the sug-
gestion Of the pampered French queen
whose subjects, starving for bread, were
advised ''to put~a chicken in the pot"
The wife Of a famous Union general
some time ago deplored the exodus of
woman from the home into business and
the professions. In all her life she had
never known want or the lack Of thing
she desired. After the death of her hus-
band friends and the government. in
consideration Of his service, provided
for her so that she might enjoy the same
comfort to the end of her days. Not a
dollar of the generous income was the
result of her own personal effort, and
but for the bounty of the country she
might have learned something of the
stress which forces other women to seek
an honest livelihood for themselves
The situation has passed beyond the
power of any human being to alter it.
Instead of decreasing, no matter what
the result may be, the exodus will CON
tinue. Those women who have braved
the world have tested through experience
the sweets of independence and the salts
faction which comes from being able to
do work and do it we'll, which not only
provides living for the present, but in
dependence in old age. Poverty, help
lessness-bread and board that are bit
terly grudged-have hurried many wo-
man to her grave whose old age, had she
been able to benefit by the new condi-
tions Of today, would have been serene
and unclouded.
There is no fear that women will
cease to marry and to aid in founding
homes, but the skilled worlSwoman Of
the twentieth century will be able to de-
mand that equality in matters of domes-
tic authority and finance which her ig-
norant sister dared not ask, hampered by
the limitations Of her sex. aggravated by
her Ignorance. A new era has dawned.
Neither prejudice, nor conservatism, nor
the combined hostility of church and
state can order the sun to stand still.
The day Of miracles, in this direction Mt
least, has passed. Mary II. Krout In
Chicago Inter Ocean