The Penn's Grove record., 1900-03-16

judgment In this matter Is that a woman
has a right to do anything she can do we'll.
There should be nc department of mer-
chandlse, mechanism, art or science barred
against her. II Miss Hosmer has genius
for sculpture, give her a chisel. II Rosa
Bonheut has a fundness for ~delineating
animals. let her make "The Horse FAIR
II Miss Mitchell will study astronomy. let
her mount the starry ladder. II Lydia
will be a merchant, let her sell purple. It
Luctetia Mott will preach the gospel, let
her thrill With her womanly eloqnence the
Quaker meeting House.
It Is said II woman is given such oppor.
t~unities b will occupy places that might
be taken by men. ! say; If she; have more
skill and a~daptedness for ~ position than
a man has; let her have 1t. She has as
much right to her bread, to her apparel
and to her home as men have. Bal 1t Is
said that her nature is so delicate that sha
is Untitled for exhausting toll. i ask In the
name Of all past history what toll on earth
Is more severe, exhausting and tremen.
dbus than that toll Of the needle to which
for ages she has been subjected? The bat.
tering ram, the sword, tho carbine, the
battleax, have made no such havoc as the
| would that these living sepul-
chres In which women have for ages been
buried might be opened AMI that some re-
surrection trumpet might bring up these
living corpses In the fresh afr and sunlight.
Go With me-, and I Will show you d wom-
an who by hardest toll supports her chill.
dren, her drunken husband, her old father
n mother, pays her house rent, always
has wholesome food on her table and when
she can get some neighbor on the Sabbath
to come in and take care OF her family APP
pears In church with hat and cloak that
are far from indicating the toll to which
she is subjected. Such a woman as that
has body and soul enough to 1T her for u
position. She could stand beside the ma
jority OF your statesmen and dispose OF more
goods. Slse could go into your wheel
wright shops and beat one-half OF your
workmen ut making carriages. We talk
about woman rs though We had resigned
to her all the light work and our
selves had shouldered the heavier. But
the day OF judgment, which will reveal the
sufferfngs OF the stake and inquIsftfon, will
marshal before the throne Of God and the
hierarchs Of heaven the martyrs OF wash
tub and needle. Now, | say ifthete be any
preference in occupation let woman have
It. God knows her triais are the severest.
By her acuter sensitiveness to misfortune,
by her hour of anguish, I demand that no
one hedge up her pathway ton livelihood.
Oh, the meanness, the despicabilfty OF men
who begrudge Il woman the right to work
anywhere in any honorable callingi
l go still further and say that woman
should have eqnni compensation with mon.
By what principle of.justice is 1t that
women In many OF our cities get only Two
thirds as much pay rs men and In many
cases only half? Here Is the gigantic injus-
tice-that for work equally welIif not better
done woman receives far less compensn-
tfon han man. Start with the National
Government. Women clerks In Washing
ton get $500 for doing that for which
men receive $500. The wheel OF OPP
preston Is rolling over the necks OF
thousands OF women who are ut this
moment in despair about what they are to
do. Many Of the largest mercantile estab-
!ishments Of our cities are accessory to
these denominations, and from their large
establishments there are scores OF souls
being pitched off into death. and their en-
ployers know 1t. Is there a God? Will
there be a judgment? I tell you II God
rises up to redress woman's wrong many
OF our large establishments will be swal-
lowed up quicker han n South American
earthquake ever Q down u city. God
will catch these oppressors between the
two millstones Of His wrath and grind
them SO POWDER
Why is 1t TINT q female principal in a
school gets only 1925 for doing work for
which a male principal gets 1850? / hear
from all this land the wall OF w~omanhood.
Man has nothing to answer to that wall
but batteries. He says she is an angel
She is not. She knows she Is not. She Is
q human being who gets hungry when she
has no food and cold when she has no fire.
Give her no more batteries; give her
justice! oh, the thousand OF sewing
girlsl Across the sunlight their
death groan. It is not such a cry as
comes from those who are suddenly
hurled out OF life, but a slow, grind
ing, horrible wasting away. Gather
them before you and look into their faces,
pinched, CHASTITY, hunger struck! Look at
their fingers, needle-pricked and blood
tipped! See that premature stoop in the
shouldersl Hear that dry, hacking, merci-
held In Philadelphia grand speeches
were delivered, but a n~eediewoman took
the stand, threw aside her faded shawl,
and with her sliriveled arm hurled n very
thunderbolt Of eioquence, speaking out the
horrors OF her own experience.
Stand at the corner OF a street in some
great city at 6 OFT O'Clock in the morning
rs the go to work. Manyof them
had no breakfast except the crumbs that
we're left over from the night before or the
crumbs they chew on their way through
the street. Here they comel The working
girls OF the cities. These engaged in bead
work, these In flower making, In millinery,
in paper box making, but, most overwork
OF all and least compensated, the sewing
women. Why do they not take the city
cars on their way up? They cannot afford
the five cents. II, concluding to deny her.
self something else. she gets into the car,
give her q seat. You want to see how Lati-
mer and Ridley appeared In the. lre. Look
nj fhat wnron md hohnId a. snnra hnrr3hla
martyrdom, a hotter ilre, q more ageniz-
Ing death. Ask that woman how much
she gets for her work, and she will tell you
six cents for making coarse shirts and finds
her own thread.
Years ago one Sabbath night in the yesti-
bule OF our church after service q woman
fell In commissions. The doctor said she
needed medicine not SO much as some.
thlngto eat. As she began to revive In her
Eight centsl wish. / could get It done. ]
am SO tired. / wish I could get some
sleep, but / must get It done. Eight cenlsl
Eight centsi', We found afterward that
she was making garments for eigif cents
apiece and that she could make but three
OF then in a day. Hear It'll Three times
eight are twenty-four. Hear 1t, men and
woman who have comfortable honest
Some OF the worst Williams Of our cities are
the employers OF these women. They
beat them down to their last penny
and try to cheat them out OF
that. The woman must deposit q
dollars OF two before she gets the garments
to work on. When the work Is done, It Is
sharply inspected. the most insigniicHnt
flaws picked out and the wages refused
and sometimes the dollar deposited not
given back. The Women's Protective Union
reports a case where one OF the poor souls,
6ndffO n nIaoA Whorn aha amid cot mara