The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1896-05-21

man is by her nature, as we have as
certained it, well qualified to be {
power in the State; but in order to bt
this it is not necessary that she should
be part of the political machine. 1t is
universally agreed among politica
philosophers that suffrage is not a ma
tural right as the advocates of wo
man suffrage seem to think. but is
merely duty upon certain suitable
members of society i'm the service of all
II the suffrage is not a natural right
what right have we 10 disfranchse
boys below 21 years OF age. and I'M
naturalized foreigners and many other
classes of people who surely have the
same natural right as men over 81
years OF age. Voting is merely a formal
method OF giving expression to public
opinion, and law and custom have Sc
lected certain persons as suitable
agents for registering this public
opinion. The question whether it is
best for society that women should
vote, is one we can safely leave TO the
future. In the meantime every good
educated woman can rule her own
home, and when such women rule all
the homes, they will rule the entire
land.
The home is the great sphere for
woman's usefulness, and the one in
which she can do more than anywhere
else to reform and bless society. What
ever position she may fill, and l would
forbid her none whatever, the position
of her greatest usefulness and infu-
ence is that of wife and mother. As
queen of the home she is queen of the
world. As the wife of a husband, she
can be the ruler of all men As the
mother of children, she can train all
citizens and so rccreate the world.
From old Homer, the first profane
poet, down to the present time, all
prophets and barts have
exhausted every resource of language
to proclaim the beauties of the home.
Old Homer sings of it. Says Ulysses to
Nausicaa: There is no fairer thing
than when one lord and lady, with one
soul, one home possess"
The prophet jeremiah likens Zion,
the heaven to come, to a woman
dwelling at home, and Solomon, the
Wise, takes chapter to describe the
''virtuous woman" and book to sing
the beauty of the queen of home, ''the
Rose of Sharon and the Lily of the
Valley
Wha> has surpassed the posgers of
the greatest singers, poets and pro-
phets, both sacred and profane, l shall
not attempt to express. In motherhood,
woman is nearer divine than anything
else in the world, and the sacredness
and majesty of this gift to woman be-
come more apparent as biology pro-
presses and society develops. The
more we know Of motherhood the
greater are our awe and wonder at its
power. Hail, holy Mother
hood Apotheosis of woman! Moth
arhood is the basis of the family-the
ink that binds us in love TO all the
past and unites us in hope to all the
future, men and women. Motherhood
is the cornerstone of fraternity that
binds together all humanity, past,
present and future, in one great fam
Iy. Motherhood teaches us the broth
mood of all mankind and establishes
.hus new law in the world-the law
IF love and service of all mankind.
What a destiny for educated woman!
What an arena for the use of all her
powers, both natural and acquired!
What necessity for intellectual,
moral and religious training is hers!
This is the one perfect office, requiring
very power of mind and heart, every
accomplishment of eye and hand, and
every demand OF the true
beautiful nature.
While it qualities all its pupils for
faithful and devoted ser
ice in tho industrial, intellectual and
moral field, may this splendid institu-
ion train many women for this, the
loblest service in the world, the hea-
ren-preparing service of the Christian
mother.
Five years old! This institution is
making bread-winners out of our wo-
men: and a more delightful lot Of
-oung women to look upon | have
never seen. The pleasant aspect OF
,verything that meets the eye, L fan
lied was a resultant in no small part
If the good wife of DIR. McIyer, whose
influence peryades the institution sup
diving what men cannot supply.
The handiwork in the industrial de-
parments. wood-carvirg, drawing,
sewing, stenOgraphE, type
writing and she rest were most at
ractive to me. Fly these, women are
5urned out who not only know some
hing. but who can also do something
And nowadays it is not what does she
know. but what can she do? And in
lhe line of this doing comes the thor
,ugh preparation of these young wo-
men for teaching others. The person
Ilities are immense of the potential out
,ome of all these energies at work, and
,ne of these days North Carolina will
eel herself lifted as if by a bound and
ooking around to note the causes, and
pronounced among them will be the
Normal and Industrial School here.