The record-union., 1895-05-06

natural carries with it right, while 1T ID
subject to the restraints of conscience.
Weakness cannot be said to have a right
to artificial power, though the concession
of such power within reasonable limits
may be not only kind but wise. just and
beneficial to humanity and civilization"
And pursuing the subject further he de-
clares that to the largest attainable
measure of good government, every
member of community has right, ir-
respective of sex, color or age; but if this
or any other political change would be
whole community has a right to
it; if it would not, then the whole
community have a right to refusal
of the change. 1t is notorious that
the number of women who are seeking
enfranchisernent is but a small fraction
of the whole, and it is very doubtful If it
was put 10 a popular vote among women
whether they would accept the new bur-
den. and why should they? Ellen Die
t,ick says that moralists demand it. Let
us see. Presuming that by the demand
of morality is meant Improvement In the
material conditions of the masses of hu
manity, has the male sex hitherto right
eously exercised political power? I'm
questionably it has. Benjamin Kidd In
his Social Evolution" says: mo careful
student of history can ignore the signifi-
canoe of the improvement in the position
of the masses Of the people which has
taken place in England and France dur
ing the nineteenth century, nor the posi-
ton the working classes have already
come to occupy in the United States and
some of the British Colonies" In Eng
land, it is said, the progress has been
enormous Mr.. Gitfen, in the Journal of
Royot Statistical Society, showed an al
most continuous decrease IN the proper
ton of paupers since 1876. The wages of
almost all classes have greatly risen, and
their purchasing power is greater
Was this improvement brought about
through the wrongful use by holders of
legitimate? We think not. Especially
in France has it been admittedly the do
mestic thrift of the women of the bour-
peoise which has enabled that country to
pay off it's war indemnity and recover its
position among the nations of the world.
There has been no revolt OF woman there.
In whatever direction we look we find
evidence of the same tendency toward
morality's teachings being carried out by
political power, male power. The condi-
tions of life of the masses of the people
show every where progressive improve
ment
In the United States of America, where
we have the most typical democracy CIV
ilization has produced, there has de-
veloped, certainly, no retrograde move
ment in the condition of the masses. and
yet Ellen Dietrich, by affirmation of her
fourth question, argues that all the hopes
of the whole human race depend, in re-
gard to good government, on the en-
franchisemenI OF the American women.
Rather an odd theory, that. Still, it is
well, perhaps, that somewhere on this
mundane sphere, perhaps France and
England, the females OF the human Spe-
-, 90 IA fho nfi tic
perpetuation; where, instead Of compet-
ing with men in occupations which de-
mand complete devotion as we'll as supe-
rior strength of muscle and brain, they
will bear and nurse children; where mat
rimony will not be disparaged as bond
age; where the rearing of children will
not be an aim too low for an intellectual
being.
There are some landmarks of nature
which cannot be removed. Nature, it
may be said, will look to this, and in the
end vindicate her own law. No doubt
she will, yet the revolt against her may
cost US dear. As Goodwin Smith we'll
says, "Woman, if she becomes man,
will be a weaker man. Yet she must be
prepared to resign her privilege as
woman. Privilege and equality at once
she cannot hope to have. 70 don the
other sex she must doH her own-a pro-
cess in which she will run the risk of
ceasing to be, or at least to be Deemed
the angelic portion of humanity For
time, perhaps, the ancient sentiment
might linger, but the total change
of relations would in the end bring
a change of feeling. Chivalry depends
on the acknowledged need of protection,
and what is accorded to q gentle help
mate would not be accorded to a rival.
Man would not be bound nor inclined to
treat with tenderness and forbearing the
being who was jostling with him in the
law courts, wrestling with him on the
stump, maneuverlng against him in cleo
tions, haggling with him on Change or
in Wall street. Take mere sex, apart
from character. and there will be nothing
in the female of the human species more
than in the female of any other species
to command our respect or devotion"
However Ito follow up the questions
propounded), whether or not the right to
vote is q natural one or legitima.ely the
exclusive privilege of man; whether or
not physical force is the basis of our
political government-the hopes of hui
manity in regard to good government,
which has for its aim humanity's good,
does not depend on the acknowledgment
of American women, and indeed universal
woman suffrage, judging from the occur
rences of the past, does not seem vital
necessity in the social organism. but on
the other hand it may be conducive to
much evil, particularly when considered
from the standard of the greatest good to
the greatest number, including in the lat
ter the unborn generations of the future.
These should never be overlooked in any
scheme of social salvation.-San Frau
cisco Wave.