St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1900-04-14
en- may embroider slippers and crochet
and make mata for lamps to atAnd on

-Wlt0Out OlS&EHCes the lOeo Oh 0Olu&
any thing for livelihood is dishonora-
BILE. 1t is q shame for a young woman
belonging to a. large family to be- in
effic;e1rr when her father tolls bis life
away for her support.
So far as can understand, the line
Of respectability lies between that
which is useful and that which Is use
less. If women do that which ID Of
no value. their work Is honorable. It
they do practical work, it is dishonor-
able. That our young women may es-
cape the censIre of doing dishonora-
BILE work, 1 shall particularize:~ ! on
may knit.a tidy for the backof an arm
chair, but by no means make the money
wherewith to buy the chair. You may
with . delicate brush beautify man.
tel ornament, but die rather than earn
enough to buy q marble mantel. Yop
may learn artistic music until you can
squan italian, but never sing ''Orton-
Vile" or "Old Hundredth." Do moth
ing practical If you would, in the eyes
of refined society, preserve your re
spectability. scout these finical no
tions. 1 tell you . woman, no more
than q man, has q right to occupy .
place in this world unless she pays .
rent for it.
In the course Of . lifetime you con-
sumo whole harvests and droves of cat-
tie and every day you live and breathe
40 hogsheads of good, pure air. You
must by some kind Of usefulness pay
for all this. Our race was the last thing
created-the birds and fishes on the
fourth day, the cattle and lizards on
the fifth day and man on the sixth day.
If geologists are right, the earth was
1000, ,000 of years in the possessionaet ct
the insects, beasts and birds before our
race came upon it. In one sense We
were invaders. The cattle, the lizards
and the hawks had preemption right.
The question is not what we are to do
with lizards and summer insects, but
what the lizards and summer insects
are to do with us, If we want place
in this world, we must earn II. The
partridge makes its own nest beforeit
occupies It. The lark by Its morning
song earns its breakfast before it eats
it, and the Bible gives an intimation
that the first duty Of an idler 10 to.
starve when it says: IF he will not
work, neither shall he eat.". Idlenesa
ruins the health, and very soon nature
says: This man has refused to pay his
rent. Out with him!" Society is to be
reconstructed on tie subject of wom-
ans toll. A vast majority of those who
would have woman industrious shut.
her up to q few kinds Of work. Ny
judgment in this matter is that a wom-
an has . right to do anything she can
do well. There should be NO depart
ment Of merchandise, mechanism, art
or science barred against her. If Miss
Hosmer has genius for sculpture, give
her = chisel. II Rosa Bonheur has .
fondness for delineating animals. 1ef
her make The Horse Fair" II Miss
Mitchell will study astronomy, let her.
mount the starry ladder. IfLydia will
be a merchant, let her sell purple. II
Lucretis Mott will preach the Gospas
let her thrill With her womanly elo-
quence the Quaker meeting house..
It is said il woman is given such op-
portunities she will occupy places that
might be taken by men. I say il she
have more skill and adaptedness for
any position than q man has, let her
have It! She has as much right to her
bread, to her apparel and to her home
40 men have. But it is said that her
nature is SO delicate that she il untitled
for exhausting toll. ask in the name
of all past history what toll on earth
10 more severe, exhausting and tre-
than that toll Of the needle to
which for ages she has been subjected?
The battering ram, the sword, the car
bine, the battleax, have made NO such
havoc as the needle. would that
these living sepulchers in which women
have for ages been buried might be
opened and that some resurrection
might bring up these living.
corpses to the fresh air anasunlight.
Go with me and ! win show you a i
woman who by hardest toll supports
her children, her drunken husband, her
old father and 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 appears in
church with hat and cloak that are far
from indicating the toll to which she
Is subjected. Such . woman as that
has body and soul enough to fit her for.
any position. She could stand beside
the majority of your statesmen and dis
pose of more goods. She could 60 into
your wheelwright shops and beat one
half Of your workmen at making car
riages. We talk about women as
'hough we had resigned to her all ths
light work and ourselves had shoul-
dered the heavier. But the day Of judg-
ment. which will reveal the sutferings
IF the stake and inquisition. will mar
hal before the throne of God and the
,ierarchs of Heaven the martyrs Of
washtub and needle.
Years ago, one Sabbath night in the
7estibule of our church, after service,
! woman fell in convulsions. The doc.
or said she needed medicine not 90
much as something to eat. As she be-
yan to revive in her delirium she said, |
Eight cents! Eight
cents! wish could get it done. I |
I'm % tired. wish 1 could get some /,
'leep, but mnst get it done. Eight
.ents! Eight cents!" We found aft
,rward that she was making .gar-
pents for eight cents apiece and that
he could make but three of them in
! day. Hear it! Three times eight |
ire "a. Hear it, men and women who
lsve comfortable home.! Some of
he worst villains Of our cities are the
Employers. Of these :womens They
'eat them down to the last penny and I
ry to cheat them otit OF nat. The
must deposit q dollar or. two /
'efore she gets the garments to work
n, When the work is done it is sharp
y inspected, the most .insignifcaht.
laws picked out and the wages re-
used and sometimes the dollar de-
'osited not given back. The Women's
protective union reports q case where
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