The citizen. (Frederick City, Md.) 1895-1923, 1901-02-08
THE CLUBS AND LOVE
CHICAGO CLUBWoMEN DENY CHARGE
MADE BY HALLE RIVES.
hecp Affection For Husbands While
fickinE Up intellectually Along
the Way-Miss Rives Mistakes Sem
timentality For Love.


timentality For Love.
Chlcago clubwOmen vehemcntly refute
the assertion of Halle Erminie Rives. the
novelist, that Chicago womcn's interest
IN club life is destroying their domestic
love and filling the divorce courts. In an
swer to her charge the women want to
know what Miss Rives knows about love.
DR.. Julia Holmes Smith says Miss Rives'
views are the expressions of immaturi-
ty and questions the authoress' right to
pass upon the emotional side of clubwo-
men. Moreover, Chicago women saw the
demands of club life prevent idle mar
rlaSes. AS for real love-" says Mrs.
Caroilne II. Sherman, no influence on
earth can Swerve it."
Expressions from Miss Rives which re.
ceived the heartiest denunciation from
the women were based on her exclama-
ton, Imagine the sensations of a Chica-
go clubwoman who happens to be kiss
ed"
Il don't think Miss Rives knows what
she is talking about. Most clubwomcn
of Chicago are already married. and as
love and kissing are essential to marriage
she is evidently on the wrong tack" sa ID
DIR. Frances Dickinson. head of the uar-
vey Medical college Il was in club life
from 1856 to 1891, and in all that time
no one ever asked me to indorse her an
plcation who was not already a married
woman, and | don't know of a divorce
among clubwomen of Chicago.
If the statement be true that woman
insists upon surprising man and leading
nm, whose is the fault? Doesn't he tell
her when he proposes that he will be her
slave! Doesn't he say he is willing to
devote his whole life to her happiness?
If he is not in earnest, what is woman to
believe, and what is she to do about it
That is the time of all others a woman
expects a man to be truthful, earnest and
honest. 1t is the mans fault if the wom-
an IS not contented. He should not make
such promises if he does not eXpect his
life companion to hold him to them.
Show me the women's club that is re
treat for divorced women. If it were not
Tor the women's clubs. the probabilities
are that many women wouldn't have the
cultivated wit to withstand some Of the
unexpected occurrences of married life so
as to make it even tolcrablc"
DR.. Julia Holmes Smith had the fol-
lowing TO say: The young woman must
be extremely young to talk in this way.
l think ii is the expression of immature
ty. 1t seems to me. in the first place the
young person knows very little of life.
less about women and nothing at all
about men. An estimate given by n
tyro of any institution is necessarily
brimful of ignorance, and certainly in
TINS case of Some conccit, because the
young person sits in Judgment, not upon
her peers, but upon those who have had
long experience Of life for the clubwo-
man of Chicago. as of other cities, is no
immature girl, but in 90 cases out of 100
is woman rich in experience of life in
all its phases-the experience which goes
to make up a perfect woman, that Of
sweetheart, wife and mother. In my
Judgment the number of divorced women
would be found to be much fewer among
clubWomCn than among those whose
Ideals of life are bounded by desire for
charming environment, eXtravagant Hv-
ing and sentimental devotion.
1T is an impertinence to assume that
Chicago clubwomen are so intelligent
they are beyond love. and also a grave in
suit to pure woman that she goes
through a cataclysm of love in her teens
and before she has reached the age of 20
experiences of the heart that men do not
know until they are much older. NV OK
periencc with young women goes TO show
that before 20 their experience is with
books and with music. While they NAV
be good chums with the boys, genuine
passion is the exception. That women's
clubs are the means of eliminating love
from the feminine temperament is abso-
lutely unworthy of discussion. | would
like to see this young woman when she
has really grown up and attained the
measure of the perfect woman, nobly
planned. to warn, to comfort and com
mand,' and not to analyze her sensations
when being kissed"
Mrs. Lucy Flower, former member of
the board of education. said: "You don't
hear of as many scandals as you used to.
Women's clubs have helped to prevent
them. The right sort of a club is making
the woman broader. This talk of the
club alternating the woman's affections
from her husband is all tommyrot. Mod
ern conveniences give the woman more
time than she used to have. 1t is not in.
dolence that makes her idle When |
was young, we used to have to make our
own yeast, soap and bluing woman
would be fool to spend her time doing
these things now. believe clubs increase
marriages. They prevent some loveless
marriages perhaps. II a woman had moth
ing to do. she might be tempted to marry
to provide herself with occupation"
Before the women's clubs came into
existence the tendency of women was to
be more spiritual and emotional than in
tellectuai," said Mrs Caroline X. Sher
man, member of the board of education
THE mission of club life should be to
equalize these qualities. Perhaps the eff
fort Of some clubwomen to change their
social life all at once has caused them to
appear more masculine than they should
be. When the clubs induce women to be
come less womanly than they were, then
they are dangerous institution. Ii is
nonsense TO say that the interests of club
life are likely TO deprive women of the
power Of loving Love is a quality which
no influence can swerve."
Miss Margaret A Haley. actuary Of
the Teachers Federation, said: whats
good for the gander is good for the goose.
If clubs are good for men, they are also
good for women. AS far as the effect Of
clubs on love is concerned, it is my bell
that women have too much sentiment al
ready. Love does not do any harm in the
world, but sentiment does. and If the wo-
Ean's club results in extricating soft
heartedness from women it is doing
good thing. Clubs have a wholesome ef-
feet. but 40 woman should belong to