The mirror. (Stillwater, Minn.) 1894-1925, 1896-12-17
WOMEN COMPETING WITH MEN.

In our country, a determined effort ,
s being made to force women into i
with men in every field of
learning and labor. What effect this
struggle of the sexes will have upon
the race, within few generations, is
worth considering. Agitation in the
direction indicated is being carried on
under various names: as "Woman's
Rights" "EmancipatiOn of WOmen,'
ETC. The idea of running women in
to men in educational mat
ters has met with considerable success,
and woman's place in politics is now
being actively considered in many
states. The field of labor, open to fe-
male competition, is being rapidly
widened, and today we have hundreds
of thousands of women and girls en-
gagged in pursuits which few years
ago. were considered only fitted for
man. AS to the complete political en-
franchisement of women, there appears
no valid reason, on political grounds,
why it should not be conceded.
Man arrogates to himself superiority
to which he has not the slightest claim
when he assumes or acts as though he
believed, that the most stupid and lg-
norant man in the country has better
political judgment than the cleverest
woman. Why an educated woman
should be refused voice in the choice
of our legislators, when every penniless
and ignorant male vagabond is given
the right. has never been satisfactorily
explained.
A woman should be as we'll educated
as possible, and those who find it neces-
sary to earn their living should be put
in a position to do so, but that they
should be pushed into competition
with men in every walk of life, is
wrong and in direct antagonism to the
best interests of the human family
Woman is not adapted, either men
tally or physically, to compete with
man. She is as inferior to him in in
tellectual strength as she is in strength
of limb, and she must continue so as
long as she remains woman and he a
man. They are built on different prin.
ciples that they may better carry out
the different duties required of them
by nature. Man has the bone, muscle,
and rude strength and the judgment and
self-control, which make him a man
and enable him to take his proper
place as the protector and supporter of
woman. Through generations these
different qualities have been building
up and they cannot be eradicated with
out fatally manning the individuals
In man we want rugged strength OF
, both body and mind, with determine
tion, and not too much sentiment, thai
he may go out into the world and figh
for those dependent upon him. Ii
= woman we want tenderness, kindness
= pity, love and patience, that she ma.
- bring forth, protect and cherish tn
: Young. These characteristics are nee
, essarily different, but they are equall
! essential to the continuance and well
being of the race Life in this worl
e can be sustained only by incessan
u struggle, and it is evident from tn
e physical constitution of the sexes tha
T. nature intended man to undertake tn
u rougher part in that struggle. Health
IS man is at all times fitted for work
le with woman, as met with in civilize
IL communities, it is not so, and tn
y amount of suffering, not to speak of il
u duced disease, entailed upon wome
T. by their endeavor to work withol
III break, as men do is known only
o. themselves, doctors and observant en-
Ie ployers of female labor.
" The assumption by women of en-
ployments usually followed by me
will affect tie marriage rate in tv
ways: First, by lowering wages,
he will render men less able and willil
at to undertake the support of a fami]
ul and second, by developing extravaga
it. tastes in wage earning girls; it W
- make them less eager to become
member of what must be poor hous