The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1898-01-30
A DECLINE IN MANNERS.

A DECLINE IN MANNERS.
The question is asked by a CORE
spondent, whether or not there has
been serious decline in popular man
nerS in the shape of a lessening Of
Difference in the attitude Of men to-
ward women. 1t is held, and not with
out good evidence, that men have lost,
to a considerable extent, the fine chiv-
airy which they once exhibited toward
the gentler sex. This does not COM
monty take the shape Of brutality or
even of coarseness, but it appears in
an attitude of brusqueness and in the
dropping away of those little atten-
tons, those subtle refinements of cour-
tesy, that have marked the relation Of
man toward woman ever since what
we call civilization began. We do not
think that any one can doubt the re-
atty Of such change. 1t is not that
men are less reverent of womanhood
and all that it implies, but they have
not that exalted idea of all the little
things which are due to women that
belonged to them in an earlier day.
Perhaps the proposition can be stated
by saying that the attitude of defer
ence has tended to be merged in one
of comradeship. The average young
man is inclined to regard the av-
erage young woman as a good fellow"
He wants nothing immodest, nothing
unfeminine, but he claims a larger
freedom of action and speech and the
abandonment of the infections Of
voice, of the constant deferential man
ner and of the minor attentions that
have been admitted all-essential He
is apt to address woman in much the
same way that he would a man for
whom he entertained entire good feel
ing and respect.
The next question that is asked is
whether this change, whatever it may
be, is a consequence of the taking I'D
by women of so many business occu-
pations. It is held that the presence
of women in business Offices and their
participation, in common with men. in
business employments make it impos-
sible to retain in the counting room
and the office the manners of the
drawing room. We do not believe that
there is anything in this argument.
The true woman and the true man
are themselves as much when thew
mingle in business as when they meet
in social life. Woman loses nothing
of her charm or her prerogative, and
man gains rather than loses in his es-
timation of the gentler sex by daily
association with a good woman. The
new order of things may tend occa-
sionally to bring out the worst side Of
human nature in each sex, but these
are the exceptions, and we believe that
the spirit of courtesy grows, rather
than lessons, with the appearance Of
the woman of business, who has come
to stay.
We feel sure, on the other hand, that
there is present and sufficient expla-
nation Of the apparent decline Of chiv-
airy. In true masculine fashion, the
blame for this will be thrown upon the
woman herself. The cause of what
ever difference of attitude there NAV
be among men is found, we believe. in
the claims that so many women have
been making, not to a place in the
business world, but to absolute identity
of right and of privilege with men.
hGen Oh,
Sisterhood" is not composed of women
who want an opportunity to earn their
living in any honorable way that thew
see fit, but of women who assert that
everything which is proper for a man
to do is proper for a woman to do.
They claim that it is weak to consent
to differences in attire, if they please
to abolish them; they associate to agi-
tate for the ballot; they intend to run
for office and hold it; they have been
authorized by the state Of Colorado
to serve in the militia. All of that
nebulous mass of uncertain preroga-
tive that is summed up in the term
''women's rights" is an insistence upon
the substantial identity of place of
men and women in the world.
Now, although it is probably true
that the woman who asks for the priv
ileges of men has no idea of surrender
ing one Of the privileges that she holds
exclusively as a woman, it is obyi-
Ously automatic that she cannot retain
both. Her status in the world as a
member of the weaker sex has appeal
ed to all that is strong, all that is no.
bic, in the opposite. The impulse to
protect and to serve in the man cor
responds to the old position, and, to
a great extent, the present position
of womankind as needing protection.
Danish the latter. and the former dis