The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1899-10-29
THE CAUSE OF WOMAN.
nor. ROOsEVELT'S ADDREsE TO THE
NEn PORk MOTHERS.

boards woman's Rights in New Jersey.
Gov Roosevelt In his address to the New York
State Assembly of Mothers the other day. made
onc Of the best indirect arguments for equal SUI
,ragc that has been made for a long time. The
stock objection has always been that woman
who d ~ her full duty by her home will not have
umc to concern herself with outside matters
But COY Roosevelt said:
"I believe the mother III ust be moro than a cross
b.,veen the head nurse and the housckeeper
She must have an interest in outside things 10
keen her own sell. respect and when she loses
,hnt self respect she loses the respect of her child
rem We know OF mother. good and kind
sacrificing herself 10 her children. who. through
,b,t sacrifice has sacrificed her power Of doing
GOOD | wonder if you have read Mary +. Will
tins's 'Rrvol, OF Mother You should read it.
a., fl contains profound moral lessons" This
ia the story Of a long suffering wife, tyrannizcd
over by a husband who was thoughtlcss rather
,hon bad and describes her final rebellion and
it, good results
Another fnvorite objection to equal suffrage
Is the division Of the idea that the mother
ou.bt to attend to everything within the homo
md thcfsther TO everything outside it, Gov.
Roosevelt said:
81 do not think it is right for the father 10 let
The mother nave all the care of home lie No
family become ali That II SHOULD DE II ule idnef
DOES not d" his share or II ie mother does not
Irrp IN touch with outsid" interests and what il
going in the word suilrl"uily To- become an
Intellectual stimulus to her cuNurcn.
Nlany persons have feeling that education
AMI intelligent interest IN public affairs tend To
MAKE women unwomauiy. GOV Roosevelt said
There are women who develop the intellectual
side To the dwhrhng Of the Won"nlN, hut II Is not
Of womanIy heroine as tHr urtulncs OF any Of the
rpmanCcS Of the dst century vt nave hcr wise,
with weu-traInc! rrlni. thoroughly awake To- all
that is going on in the world.
The real objection to suffrage in the minds OF
many fashionable ana faslldious women Is the
fear that the ballot might bring them In contact
with something rough aud unpleasant Gov.
Roosevelt said.
the boys ami girls Who VIII naturally he the leaders
Of tho next century should keep peculiarly i'll
mind 10 trHln those children 10 nave not only the
negative motives. bat 10 cultivate the positive.
As one who sees infinitely much Of the wiCkedncss
in til" world have grown tu count the want OF
Intelligent and strong cil"rl Tor righteousness
u represent a positive mi~demeanOr We can't
afford it. We need all the effort toward righteous
ness possible Your children are the people who
viii shape the questions ui the next century in
which there will be- coming together OF the nations
and gathering 81 problems greater Than ever
hefor" In the next century We snail need every
ounce OF morality OF tlEm courage, OF steady pur
pose We need not only the nice people, the people
VINO would sit at home, who would coniinc their
efforts To- p DsrnS resolutions. but we shall need
The Poop. $40 feel burning sense OF indig natiOn
AT corruption, al wrongs at iniustces, at foul
living people who viii go out and work to set
1t is peculiarly appropriate that these words
should have been spoken IN Albany, the head
quarters Of the ants. who would sit at home"
and who shudder at the idee u CrystalllZlnR their
disapp'oval Of any evil into the concrete form Of
ballot cast against il
The Supreme Court Of Michigan has decided
that Mrs Merue H. Abbott, who vas lately elected
Prosecuting attorney OF Ogcmaw county, is in
eligible, tAccordinR 10 the dispatches, the Court
held that woman is ineligible Ia hold elective
Office IN Michigan unless the statutes cons
luton expressly supuIa,e that she may do So
The decision is an endorsement Of Judge Cooey's
proposition that when the law is silent respecting
qualifications for office, it must be understood
that electors are eligible, but others. In dis
senung opinion. Justice Moore says that the
great weight "i authority suStains the conclusion
mat IN case Of such silence on the part of the
sutuuun and laws, the people may elect whom
they Will. If the person elected is competent TO
discharge the duties Of the Office"
Mrs. Abbott is u capable young woman lawyer
ana the men OF OEeinaw county evidently thought
she was Competent to perform the duties, or a
This decision is not merely interference with
the night OF one young woman to honest
living by her chosen profession, and to rise as
high N Il as her natural abilities will carry her
II is also an interference with the right Of large
number OF male citizens 10 elect the person they
prefer; for Mrs Abbott was chosen by the votes
Of men alone. Women cannot vote in Michigan
The situation created by the law, as defined by
the Supreme Court is absurd enough. 4 woman
lawyer may defend u man who is on trial for muir
der but may not prosecute him for stealing n
pockrI handkerchief So long as women are
not electors. the law will continue to be full OF
these anomalies Equal suffrage, when it comes,
will sweep them away.
The decisions Of the Supreme Courts of differ
en States have varied widely TO the right of
women 70 do new things and TO hold new posi-
tons. Liberallty is often found where we should
expect conservatism, and vice versa. Missouri
i9t Instance Is more conservative State than
Michigan. yet in Missouri three women are now
serving as county clerks, a county Office open to
Inc same objections as that OF county prosecuting
attorney Mrs. Mary \. Livermore tells Of a re
cent effort in her own town Of Nlelrose, Mass. to
make a woman town clerk. Edward BOrdman,
tAe town cIer had continued to he elected to the
oilcr long after he was known to be wholly in
capacitated by illness. Ills wife did the work for
hiIn and such was her ability, and such her dcvo-
ton to her husband that she mastered every de
tail OF the Office and discharged the duties Of town
clerk with perfection. When Mr. i}oriman died,
there was much sympathy with lis widow, and
hrrtown clerk in his stead; She needed the work,
ana had shown herself able To do it. The men Of
searched the law with a microscope. looking for
some loophoe, but he was forced to the conclusion
INA mat q woman was not eligible, Yet Just across
me border, in conservative, Vermont, eleven
women are serving as town clerks
NlS said that In one OF the Southern States. soon
after the war, a woman was chosen 10 an unusual
oihGe The Judge who would have TO pass upon
ne legality OF II was approached by conservative
friend who inquired, with long face. is there
any law authorizing a woman to hold this posi-
non The Judge answered, rs there any law
i2T bi woman TO hold this position If not,
4i Ms Is the whole controversy in n nutshell.
Inc conflicting decisions have reflected the
PIpsr'SSlNehrSS or conservatism OF the Judges.
IN MaSSaclusctt for instance the law provided
mat properly qualified persons might be ad-
mlltrdt to the bar But when an application for ad-
MISSION was made by Miss Le, Robinson after
warts MIS-. Sawtclc. the Supreme Court decided
u'a' Hlr was not person ana special act Of the
LEGISLATURE had to be- passed to enable women to
pla'Hce law In COnnrClCut on the other hand
although the law was substantially the same, the
decision Of the Supreme Court was Just the re-
verse, Chief justice Park, in an opinion on the
legality OF the admission Of Miss Mary Hail of
hartford 10 the bar in 1882, held that no special
Tablc words
We are not 10 forget that all statutes are to
p construed aS far as possible III favor Of equality
o. rights MI restrictions upon human liberty,
OH CLAIMS for SPECIAL privileges to be regarded
as ha''hE the presumption Of law against them,
QUO as standing upon their defence and can he
sustained II at all by valid lcgislat,On onl, by the
eIeaf expression OF clear lnpIcat0n Of the law"
=, CIV heroine is winning praise in Mississippi
li'U W lever prevails IL Nh capital and the State
n"''r IS emrLed II all public officials but three.
ph' ~ ~" exceptions : Mrs Helen ID Bell who
10Y Twelve years has hcld the only public Office
open 'n women in Mississippi, that Of State Ii
WhtNu During this time I! ere have been three
e. u"mrN Il yellow fever, but She has always
AH\rd a. her post keeping the library open for
grimm hnpTS daily, required by law. The