The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1896-03-04
TOM REED IS CHIvALROUS
The Ncw Woman Has q Valiant Cham
piOn in Congress.
BOLDLY FAvORs EQUAL RIGHTS
An Earnest Suffrasist. Who Il on Record
In the strongest Terms-A Report
to tho House Which shows
Where lie Stands.
From the Washington Post,

! an ardent advocate OF woman suffrage.
The enunciation Of this opinion was oc-
casioned by visit of Vote-seeking
! ladies' in the spring of 1854. Mr.. Reed.
who had In the congress before Deen
chairman OF the Judiciary committee,
now led it's minority. The good women
| had spoken. So had the committee, In
| the usual stock of adverse arguments
| about the care. which should be given
| to the bestowal of the privilege, not the
| right. OF suffrage: and the coordinate
! and advisory position of woman In re-
| lation 10 man and her freedom of slav-
cry: about the indirect representation
which all women have at the polls
through fathers, brothers. and his-
bands. and about the sacred tenderness
of womanhood. which might be con-
| taminated by political associations.
This report was accompanied by mi
| nority report. presented to the house
by Thomas B. Reed. OF Maine. on April
| ~, 1884. That Mr.. Reed wrote II can
not be doubted by any one who reads
the first paragraph:
mo one who listens to the reasons
| given by the superior class for the con-
| tinuance of any system OF subsection
can fail to be impressed with the noble
disinterestedness of mankind. When
the subsection of persons OF African
utSctI1t WAS " pe HldIIltaiIleu, lIc Boou
Of those persons was always the main
object. When it was the fashion to
beat children. to regard them as little
animals who had no rights, II was al
ways for their good that they were
treated with severity and never Oh ac-
count of the bad temper of their par
ents. Hence when II is proposed to
| give to the women of this country an
, opportunity to present their case to the
various State Legislatures the demand
Of the people of the country the equality
of political rights, 1t Is not surprising to
| find that the reasons on which the con-
tinuance OF the inferiOrity OF women Is
urged are drawn almost entirely from
tender consideration for their own
| good. The anxiety felt lest they should
thereby deteriorate would be an honor
| of human nature were 1t not an his
torical fact that the same sweet soli-
| citude has been put uD as O. barrier
against every progress which women
| have made ever since civilization be-
| gan. There is no doubt today that II
| in Turkey or Algters, countries where
| woman's sphere is most thoroughly con-
| fined to the home circle. 1t was pro-
posed to admit them to social life. to re-
move the veil from their faces and per-
nit them to converse in open day with
the friends of their husbands and
brothers. the conserv ative and judi
cious Turk or Algerine of the period.
| If he could be- brought to even consider
such a horrible proposition, would point
out that the sphere of woman was to
make home happy by those gentle
insipidities which education would de-
! stroy; that by participation in con-
versatiOn with men they would learn
coarseness. debase their natures. and
| men would thereby lose that ameliorat-
ing influence which leaves them unit
| to associate with women. He would
point out that mature" had determined
! that women should be secluded: that
her sphere was To raise and educate the
man child and that any change would
be violation of the divine law which,
always ordains the present, but never
the future"
HIS CHARACTERISTIC STYLE.
This is Reedism pure and simple. OF
course it is not necessary for this argu-
ment, and for the presentation Of the
man from Maine to the country as the
womans candidate for the Presidency,
that Mr.. Reed should have written the
| report himself. He presented ii to the
House, and his name is the first on the
| list of names signed to 1t, OF which
there are four In all. But no one who
ever heard the Hon. Thomas speak will
deny that this is written in his best
| style. and should be for all time the
| platform of rights and principles for
| womans suffrage conventions. Topro-
| ceed with this very interesting dOcu-
ment, intended as q legislative argu-
ment. but now flaming campaign
manifesto:
| so In civilized countries, when 1t was
| proposed that women should own their
own property, that they should have
the earnings of their own labor there
We're not wanting those who We're sure
that such proposition could work only
evil to them. and that continually. 1t
| would destroy the family, discordant
! interests would provoke dispute. and the
| only real safety for woman was in the
| headship of man, not that man wanted
superiority for any selfish reasons. but
| to preserve intact the family relations
for woman's good. Today wOInan's
property belongs to herself: her earn
| inEs are her own; she has been emanci-
pated beyond the widest hopes Of any
reformer of twenty-five years ago. AL
most every vocation is open to her. She
| has proven her usefulness in spheres
which the nature wOrshiped by the
| conservatives of twenty-five years ago
! ubHoiuttiS loL HfI W cIltcI. Not-
withstanding all OF these changes the
| family circle remains unbroken, the
man child gets as we'll educated as be-
fore and the ameliorating influence OF
women has become only the more
marked. Thirty years ago hardly any
political assemblage of the people was
graced by the presence Of women. Had
Ii needed q law to enable them to be
present. what an argument could have
been made against IL! How easily 1t
| could have been shown that the coarse
ness. the dubious expressions, the gen.
eral vuigarity of the scene could have
had no other effect than to break down
their purity of word and thought which
women have. and which conservative
and radical are alike sedulous to pre-
serve. And yet the actual presence of
women at political meetings has not
debased them. but has raised the other
sex. Coarseness has not been diffused
through both sexes. but has fled from
both TO put the whole matter in q
short space. the association of the
sexes in the family circle. i'm society.
and in business. having proved improv.
ing to both. there is neither history,
reason. nor sense to justify the asser-
tion that associat ton in Dolitics would
| lower the one or demoraliZe the other"
! Here follows a TRADE of characteristic
scorn from the "fanaticfsm of conser-
vatism" which holds out that 1t Is
against mature" for various proposed
novelties to be possible. much less desir-
able. until some bold reformer has
proven both these iinpossibilities. This
section of the argument concludes:
1.-The enfranchisement of women must
pass the ordeal like everything else. 1t
must give good reason for it's demand TO
be or take Its place among the half for
gotten phantasies which have chal-
lenged the support of mankind and
have not stood the test Of argument and
discussion
AN INALIENABLE RIGHT.
The next chapter of this bible Of wo-
mems rights seeks to prove that SUM-