The record-union., 1898-01-26

part If women themselves, against that
urgency to independence, which the
| suffragists. more than anybody else,
| have insisted upon during the past
twenty or thirty years. 1t has done its
more or less necessary work and had
its day, and we believe that the COM
| ing generation will see a decrease Of
it's spirit. But in any event self-sup-
porting women must ever be in the
minority. If the race is to continue, the
| great majority of women must be
! chid-bearers, and as such they need
| the natural support and protection OF
men to q greater instead of a less de-
gree than they receive it to-day. \
woman might be twenty times voter
| and she would still be unsafe in a viii
| derness or on the streets Of a great
city at midnight The physical facts
| of the case put woman at disadvan-
! tage which the ballot can never equal
! ize; and the woman who depends upon
| it to perform that office will ever finci
/ ii a poor substitute fer the method Of
| God and nature which puts
| the true protection of wo-
man in the strong and manly
nature of the men of her home. 1t is a
! significant fact, that if there has been
! a decline in the chivalrous sentiment
| of men in this respect, it has conceded
with the period during which the inde-
pandence of women has been most Sc
| riously urged.
| Very many self-supporting women
/ are clearly aware of these facts, and
they are joining the ranks of the anti
| suffragists in increasing numbers.
/ IS THE SUFFRAGE MOVEMENT
PROGRESSIVE IN ITS NATURE?
Perhaps one Of the strongest. asser-
| tons made by the suffragists, certain
/ ly one used with very plausible effect,
/ is that woman suffrage being in me
| line Of progress and evolution is sure
to come in the long run.
| But the researches of science tell a
! very different story. So far from We
man suffrage being progressive in its
| nature. the study of evolution proves
! ii to be decidedly retrogressive; step
| backward toward the time when tile
| squaw titled the fields, while the brave
! lounged in the sun Throughout the
! whole history Of evolution, from its
| origin in the protoplasmic mass to this
! nineteenth century civilization, the
/ specialization of the functions or sex.
| the telling off of the rough, heavy ma
| terial work for the larger brain aat
| stronger muscle of the male. and the
/ finer and more spiritual work for the
! weaker frame but finer fiber of the Ie-
male has been the handspring of prog
ress. In document like this. one can
| not cite authorities; but II would be
/ easy to fill pages with the most con-
| elusive testimony from the writings Of
men of acknowledged pre-eminence IN
! the scientific world to prove this state
| ment.
| To believe that woman suffrage IS
sure 70 come" is to believe that tha
process of evolution is to be turned
backward. the grand and noble teaca-
!, ings of Christianity in regard to wo-
man and her mission to be stultifled.
and the immortal interests of the gen
esis and true progress of the race turn
| ed over to the forces of chaos and an
archy.
WOMAN'S TRUE WORK.
| We make our protest against woman
suffrage in the name and behalf OF th':
| best interests not only of our own sex,
| but of the race We believe that the
| noDlest and most useful work OF Wo-
man has ever been and will ever be.
not in those fields of labor III which nlsa
| are at least as capable as herself. 10
| admit no more, but in that domain IN
| which men can never take her place,
nor become her peer or rival. We ne-
| iieve that theory to have the sanction
OF reason and science which regards .ae