Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1900-03-15

crochet and make mats for lamps TO |
stand on without disgrace, the idea of do |
ing anything for n livelihood is dishOnor- |
able. 1t Is a shame for Il young woman |.
belonging to II large family to be ineth-
cicnt when her father tolls his life away
for her support 1t Is shame for a
daughter to be idle while her mother tolls
at the washtub. 1t is as honorable to
sweep house, make beds or trim hats as
it is to twist watch chain.
So far as | can understand the line Of
responsibility lies between that which ia
useful and that which is useless. If wom-
en- do that which is of no value, their
work is honorable. If they do practical
work. it is dshouorablc. That our young
women may escape the cCnsure of doing
1iShonurablc work. | shall partcularizc.
You may knit n tidy for the back of an
armchair, but by no means make the
money whe'ewith to buy the chair. You
may with n delicate brush hcautify
mantel ornament. but die rather than
earn enough to buy marble mantcl. You
may learn artistic music until you can
squall Italian, but never sing "Orton-
Vile" or "Old Ilundredth." DO nothing
practical if you would, in the eyes Of re-
fined society, preserve your responsibility.
| scout these fnical notions. | tell you
woman, no more than man. has right
to occupy n place in this world unless she
pays n rent for IT.
In the course of lifetime you consume
whole harvests and drOvcs of cattle and
every day Won live and breathe 40 hogs
heads Of good. pure air. You must by
some kind of usefulness pay for ali this.
Our race was the last thing crcatcd-thu
1 tai, EeI. I,o Io
cattle and lizards on the firth day and
man on the sixth day. If gcologi~ts are
right, the earth was 100000 Of years in
the posse. sion of the insects, beasts ana
birds before our race came upon it. In
one sense we were invaders. The cattle,
the lizards and the hawks had prc-emp-
ton right. The question is not what we
arc to do with the lizards and summer in
sects, but what the lizards and summer
insects are TO do with us. II we want a
place in this Id, we must earn it. The
partridge makes its own nest before it
occupies it, The lark by its morning
song earns its breakfast before it eats il,
and the Bible gives an intmation that
the first duty of an idlcr is to starve
when it says, "If he will not work nci-
thcr shall he eat Idlencss ruins the
health. and very soon nature says: This
man has refused to pay his rent. Out
with him." Society is to he reconstruct
ed on the subject of woman's toll. a
vast majOrty of those who would have
woman Industrious shut her up to few
kinds of work. My judgment in this
matter is that a woman has right to do
anything she can do we'll. There should
be no department Of merchandise, mech
ansm, art or science barred against her
! If Miss Hosmer has genius for sculpture,
| give her chisel. If Rosa Bonheur has a
fondness for delneatng animals, let her
make "The Horse Fair" If Miss Mitch
ell will study astronomy, let her mount
the starry ladder If Lydia will be a
merchant let her sell purple. II Lucreta
Mott will preach the gospel, let her thrill
with her womanly eloQUonce the Quaker
meeting house.
The Rights of Woman.
1t is said if woman is given such oppor-
tunties she will occupy places that might
be taken by men. | say if she have more
skin and adaptedness for any position
than man has, let her have it. She has
as much right to her bread, to her appar-
ell and to her home as men have. But it
is said that her nature is so delicate that
she is untitled for exhausting toll. l asl;
in the name Of all past history what toll
on earth is more severe, exhausting and
tremendous 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 trumpet might
Al, . bA
air and sunlight
Go with me and l will show you wo
man 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 neighhor or
the Sabbath TO come in and take care OF
her family appears in church with hat
and cloak that are far from indicating tn,
toll to which She is subjected. Such {
woman as that has body and soul enough
10 tit her for any position. She coulC
stand beside the majority of your sales
men and dispose of more goods. She coult
20 into your whCelwrght shops and bea
one-half of your workmen at making car
riages. We talk about women as though
we had resigned to her all the light worl
and ourselves had shouldered the heavier
, But the day Of judgment, which will re
/, veal the sufferings of the stake and inQul
/ stion, will marshal before the throne o
God and the hierarchs of heaven the mar
, tyrs of washtub and needle. Now, | sa.
if there be any preference in occupation
let woman have il. God knows her trial
are the severest. BY her acuter sensitive
ness to misfortune, by her hour of an
: guish, demand that no one hedge up he
pathway to a livelihood. Oh, the mean
=, ness, the despicabiity Of men who be
, grudse a woman the right to work any
where in any honorable calling.
e Equal Wages with Men.
: go still further and say that woma
should have equal compensation wit
/ man. BY what principle of justice is
$ that women in many of our cities get on
$ ly twothrds as much pay as men and il
IS many cases only half? Here is a gigan
; tic iujustico-that for work equally we
e il not better done woman receives fa
: less compensation than man. Start wit
Il the national government. Women clcrl,
Y III Washington get $500 for doing tina
l. for which men receive 81 500 The wheC
n Of oppression is rolling over the necks c
l. thousands of women who are at this mC
mont in despair about what they are I
do, Many of the largest mercantile e'
% Establishments of our cities are acccssor
to these denominations, and from the
= large establishments there are scores c
l.. a. 81.