The Worcester spy. [volume] (Worcester, Mass.) 1898-1904, 1899-03-30
WOMAN SUFFR RAGE.
Interesting Meeting of the
Woman's Club.


int literary exercises were to consist
Oh d presentation of the views of those
VINO are opposed to woman suffrage
Inc hrst matter has been discussed nv
leaders of the Woman's Club off and on
all the club year, for the club presents
the phenomenon of having q WAITING
iiSt OIL -"' names, while being itself linn
lted TO a membership of 400, and the
Leellhg that something ought to be
uolie' eliminated in yesterdays at
tempt to ascertain the wishes of those
most concerned.
Mrs. Elmer G.. Tucker. for sevoral
years corresponding secretary of the
cluo, was the first to be called on. Dur
rs Uls years when she had the hand
Ing u the names of candidates, the
average attendance, she said. was 81
per year. At that rate it would tsl[e
petWeeh and years for the present
Waltlng list to be admitted Cnnsid
etlns the Initial platform of the club.
she old not think it was fulfilling its
purpose IN excluding so many women.
pesiue winch it needlessly deprived if
sci Vi the assistance Of many college
urea ana other earnest women While
years ago 6S women applied for sdmis-
SION last year there were 50 and this
year out ~. This sudden dropping OFF
Is not due to any degeneration on the
part Oh the club, but rather to the dis
couragement of the women at the long
wait before them
MIS- >: Z. MacMurray, who spoke en-
Enthusiastically of the work of the asso-
ciate club, and who characterized he
Waluhg list as waiting for dead mems
SHOES, was followed by Mrs C. F. Car
ron OF the waiting list, who thought
tnere was room in Worcester for an
independent club, but that the mem
ners OF an associate club would be all
me time looking forward to joining the
CRUZ proper, which would make a state
of affairs very Weakening to the asso-
cate club. Mrs. Moses Harris. also on
the waiting list, said she had often
wondered why the waiting list did not
form club of its own, as was done in
Chlcago Mrs. Archibald McCullagh,
the president, said at this tuncture
that she thought there was room In
Worcester for another woman's club
and that she did not care whether the
associate club We're formed exclusively
from the waiting list or not.
Miss Henshaw rose to say that the
associate club, being in part a means
of preparation for the club itself.
should follow along the lines laid down
by the club and that its membership,
should be restricted to the waiting list
Miss Ellen A. Kimball, the first vice
president, brought out the point that
the associate club would be a great
help to the club proper and that rhe
relations between the two should be
those of mother and daughter She
was followed by Mrs. Gardner C. Whit
ing, who asked if it was fail; to make
the waiting list form an associate club.
10I i Oh,
ing to join this club, not to form
club of their own. What kind of al
legiance could they feel for club which
they might leave at any moment and
which was in its very nature tentative
and temporary? She would suggest
that the entire waiting list up to date
be admitted. No precedent need be
thereby established. This was follow
ed by enthusiastic applause. Mrs VIII
lard Scott, one of the waiting list. spoke
of the difficulty that body experienced
in saying what 1t would like since if
did not know the conditions which went
with either choice, and Mrs. A. B. r
Sprague asked what would be the re-
lations between the two, to which Mrs.
McCullagh replied that the associate
club would be made up of women on
the waiting list OF the Woman's Club
but that it would make out it's program
Independently of the club. Mrs C. c
Baldwin then remarked that the dis
position of the waiting list was a ,lif-
ficult matter and that, as the meeting
had been called for the good OF the
waiting list, some of the ladies on 1t
should be heard from. Mrs. McCullagh
then asked those of the waiting list
who were present to RISE and nearly
half Of the audience stood. She then
asked those who were in favor of an
associate club to stand. Not a woman
arose.
Continuing, Mrs. McCullagh spoke Of
the fact that for 10 years the Woman's
Club had been limited to 400 and that
there was not much prospect of en-
larging the membership. For matters
of business it made a difference whe tn
err the club membership was 400 or 1000;
two clubs. each numbering 400 members
could transact business much better
than a club of 1000. Mrs. w Fl. Bliss
thought the club ought to decide what
1t would do and let people know, while
Mrs. sydney a. Reeve of the waiting
list said she would like to belong eth
er to the Woman's club or to an indie
pendent club, but not to an associate
club such as had been outlined.
At this point the discussion ceased.
Mrs. McCullagh presided at the lit
erary exercises, introducing as the first
speaker Mrs. William j. Sedgwick of
Boston. who read a scholarly paper up
on Some scientific aspects of the wo-
man suffrage institute" to which We're
added a few words to the Indifferent
and those who believed woman suffrage
to be inevitable. The woman suffrage
movement she criticised as being con
trary to the two laws upon which mod
ern society rests, viz, the physiological
division of labor and the co-opera ton
of dissimilars for mutual advantage.
She acknowledged at the beginning