Aberdeen herald. [volume] (Aberdeen, Chehalis County, W.T.) 1886-1917, 1896-02-13
WOMAN'S POSITION.
WHAT II WAS BY NATURE AND WHAT
NAN HAS MADE IT.

Many Are Driven Into OeeapokSoAD fhA4
Were Once Only For Me.-soms very
PLATA Talk.
The retention q any statement, how.
ever important CT timely, becomes mo-
loso1o1s, b1. 80 long as nischie-ors
IDEAS are promulgated they must be met
and discredited, though il be seventy
TINES seven and more Otherwise the
wo-d would remain eterna1ly in error.
Il will Be admitted, even by the moss
radical # the 50 called woman g rights
advocates. that, in conformity to her
peculiar physical organization, the fe-
male ct the human race has BEEN espe-
eially created 70 perform specific work
in the domestic economy. This is, COM
prehensively stated, 20 bear children and
maintain the home On tire other hand,
II was manifestly inte ided that the
male Of the human race should cherish
and protect her, assuming the severe4
physical labor which must be performed
and shielding her from every danger
that might threaten the health, happi.
ness and perretuation Of the EpecieA La
the original plan enc duty was not re-
gardsd subordinate OF inferior to the
other. Nature had simply divided the
burden of existence, assigning to enc the
active part Of providing food and shell
ter, and 10 the other the more important
part in the reproduction Of the species
70 strip it Of all its sentimentality and
state it plainly.
But in this, as in all things else, the
majority Of men have subyerted the
law Of nature and have promulgated the
theory that they. the actual earners Of
wealth, owe little to women who mere
IL 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 secs fit to give her. dis
regarding Common justice and that
which is her rightful oue-the absolute
and equal division OF all that accrues
through his work and her economy.
The increasing love Of luxury among
men, the comfort which club life pro-
yidss, with emigration from thickly
populated centers to remote fields Of in.
dustry, have reduced the number Of mar.
riageable men in many states ThiA
with the unwillingness Of the few to
accept the dependence Of the nature do
scribed above, has also largely increased
the number Of unmarried women who
choose to, or are forced to, provide Tor
themselves. Whether they belong to one
class or the other, it remains none the
less certain that whatever income they
are to 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
OF relatives, CT join the army Of the lost,
whose brief season Of ease and luxury
almost inevitably ends in the prisnn.
the almshouse OF the potter's field
And yet, again and again, and still
again, solemn exhortations are sounded
from the pulpit warning woman" from
deserving the home, ncr proper sphere,
10 join the feverish multitudea who
crowd the marts and highways Of tho
world Women themselves, weak, fool.
ish and unthinking, selfshly Satisfied
with their own seclusion, echo the sense
less and cruel command.
For it is cruel, as heartless as the sug-
gestion OF the pampered French queen
whose subjects, starving for bread, werc
advised ito 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 q
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 themselvea
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 coz
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 well, 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 workwoman 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 at
least, has passed. Mary n. Krout in
Chicago Inter Ocean.
Big Bells In China.
Besides hundreds Of bells weighing
from 1000 to 20, 900 pounds, Nankin,
China, has four bells which weigh %. 900
pounds each They are nearly 10 English
feet each in height, and are almost %
feet in diameter. The metal in these mon.
sters averages about 5H inches in thick
ness throughout, being about inches