The Topeka state journal., 1899-11-20
Says the Ex-senator Holds an
Ancient Idea.
DAWN OF BETTER DAYS
Advancement of Women Pre-
sages Much Good.
Has an Even Race With Man In
Battle of Life.

The Rapid Advance OF Woman, and
incidentally he took occasion TO reply
to ex-senator ingalls, recent article
along the same line.
The sermon was preached especially
to the Young Women's Christian as
sOCiatiOn. DR.. Countermine took Tor
his text the fourteenth verse of the
fourth chapter OF Esther. Who know
eth whether thou art come 70 the king
dom for such a time as this" and in
connection with the advancement OF
woman. he asked the questions. whence
does it come and what does it pro
phesy? He said:
Woman has come to the kingdom
Not every woman. not the majority OF
women, but a great multitude Of the
most energetic and determined II has
been a long, hard, heroic struggle
reaching through centuries, but they
have at last won the day and gained
at least partial recognition Of their
inaIena bic rights.
In giving an account of terrible
disaster. Dean Swift, exclalns. Two
hundred souls lost. besides several Wo-
men and children Just as though WO-
men and children had no SOUS. no high
er nature, no capacity TO Lhfuk, reason,
plan and execute. This is the old
heather idea 1t is still prevalent to q
greater or less degree in lands unvis-
ited by the light and regeEeratiug in
fiuenceS Of Christianity. Whether our
forefathers really believed 5t or not,
they certainly practicsd it Their sons
they sent to school and If possible TO
college They had capacity They must
be educated No 50 did they deal with
their daughters. Almost anything was
good enough for them. Their sphere
was limited They needed little They
got little. I would limit their library
once said Byron. TO a Bible and a cook
cry book Many shared his opinion.
Many seem 10 share IL still. not only N
heather lands but also IN our own
Etaw-r11ItV f-Brnr1ife1 statistics show thar
there are over tVVenty-Ihree million of
women in the United States OF this
number four and a half million are
wage-earners- OF these wage-earn5rs.
nine hundred and forty-five thousand
are totally iliterate-' How tenacious
are Old opinions How hard ii is for Us
TO get away from the sins OF our fore
fathers
Il could never quite understand it un-
til 7 read Mr. ingalls, article on 'yVo-
mans Turn as published in last Mon
days Journal Woman he says. has
become mans rival. competitor and en-
envy Perhaps our f1reIaChers had q
premonition of all this. They felt il in
their bones 1t won do they said, TO
give our daughters the same education
al advantages that we give our sons
If We do they viii Outstrip them in the
race and secure all the best prizes We
do not affirm that they actually enter
tained these alarming views. but that
If they did. then according 10 AIr. In
gals. everything IS clear We under
great mystery.
suppose women have. under the
splendid educational opportunities af-
1Orded by our free schools and state
universities. become rivals and COM
petiuOrs of men. have they not just as
good right as men have TO the good
things of this life2 Did not the same
God make them and the same Christ
redeem them2 If man is 10 be held ac-
COuntable for the proper development
and use OF all his gifts is not woman
hea 81 % "a Ia 30
proper development and use Of all her
gifrs2 The parable of the talents. in
our judgment belongs to young women
exactly as muCn as II belongs to young
men What a boy is by nature stands
in fixed ratio with what he II bound To
become by acquisition. The same IS
equally true of the young woman. What
she is by nature she is bound TO develop
70 the highest possible degree and wise
" use for the good Of herself and the
race.
Queen Esther came to the kingdom.
not by chance. nor by inheritance. nor
Yet by the suffrage OF the people. but
by that divinity that shapes our ends.
rough heW them how We VIII Herein
lies the secret of her rapid advance
ment- Herein also is to be found the
real cause that has brought 50 many
bright and intelligent women of today
To the kingdom OF life thought inVes-
tigatiOn. science. literature. authorship.
philosophy, invention, and business
The increase of women Wage-earn-
ers during the past ten years has been
in agriculture Il per cent. in manufac-
turing - per cent. in domestic service
Il per cent, in professional life I5 Per
cent IN trade and transportation 263
per cent There are today fifteen hun
dred times as many women engaged IN
the different trades as there were .
years ago. OF all the various machines
of different kinds used in the United
States. nearly One-third is said to be
operated by women and children. Not
only so but Of the 2S1225 shareholders
in our national banks. 101s s44 are wo-
men
Right here an important question
forces itself upon US If. as Mr. ingalls,
says and others believe. that women
when compared with man at his high
est and best. be inferior and detective
If they be. as he af1rms, physically.
intellectually and morally Indrm' how
IS IL that so many women have in the
race OF 50 many difficulties accomplish
Sd 50 much2 Again and again are We
toId IhaI the battle OF life has become
50 intense, and that business is being
transacted on such small margins. that
no man can reasonably hope TO sue
ceed unless he has q splendid intellect
uaI equipment II this be 50 and WO-
men be intellectually infirm,' how are
we TO account for their marvellous sue
cess How Is 1t that SO many of our
daughters are OutsIripping our sons IN
mastering the curriculum in our state
universities. standing at the head of
their classes and capturing the largest
prizes Explain it as You may the fact
remains. Woman has come TO the
Kingdom
admitting the fact. the question
comes: What is she there for2 What
does her present position prophesy2 Is
it evil or good. advancement or de-
teriOratiOn2 Only 3 per cent of the
women Of this country belong to any
church There is something startling
about this statement More than If
teen and half million non processing
Christians among the women Of Amer
lea over two hundred thousand OF