The Montgomery advertiser., 1901-05-23
WOMEN za
 SOCIETY.
n AIU1TUDE or WOMEN
 TOWARD SUFFRAGE.
WEn. q x asossaaa)


 LII A1x1TUDE or WOMEN
 HOWARD SUFFRAGE.
 11ce Stone Blackwell writes in The Nox York Dyening Post the following
 cofn1Hx women and their attitude zoee<o lhulEfage:
 2 Wx1ter in The Evening Post inti- 1Nt1o that the success of the bill x4nelng spkrage to tax-p&yfng women 4n4 the failure of the efforts to secure EuIl 6uffrage have been due to the indif- 1renk attitude of the women--to the 149lre of women taxpayers for vote In tax questions, as compared with the XnI16erence of women in general to . 4oto on general questions. Facts do Aot RArfnnt this inference.
 \ At the hoaring in Albany, 1t was as- SsF to& over and ever again by the rep- sasenDntives of the sNew York Asso. tsst1ou Opposed to the Extension of j. f3y of women were opposed to the I xpayerg Suffrage Bill, and that h9n1ly any women taxpayers favored e except those who wanted full suf- aXknEe. Neither of these assertions was <1<ue; but 1t was true that the majority M women were indifferent !. to both nensures. It was also a fact that wo- 1non had shown much more interest in 0eneral suffrage than in taxpayers suf-. @xnre. The petitions for taxpayers S11zIrage bore 5000 signatures; but at nc time of the Constitutional Conven- &<on. the petitions for full suffrage were Eirmed by 300, 900 persons. fully half of fhAm women; and in addition repre- nentative petitions were sent in from o4Ennixl0ions with an aggregate mem bornhip of soo 900 more.
 The explanation of the success Of the enc measure and the,non-success as yet of the other cannot be found in the dif- foront attitude of the women. The at- &1ku6e of women toward all suffrage ueasures is substantially the same: the nnajority are indifferent, a minority are mtrongly in favor, and a much smaller minority are strongly opposed. The Daneage of the taxpayers bill was due 1o the lsgislators' sense of justice and xa1r play, ana to the conviction still held by many American men that tax ation should not be without represent ation. Moreover, 1t was safe meas nre, . measure which they could see fhe end Of; 1t brought in only a limited number of women, nearly all of them kairiy intelligent: it did not make wo- men eligible to once, or frighten the nieuor interest, or risk changing the balance between political parties. In
 
 tho larger one would have been refused. Tor the same reason that the small end nf.sa wedge will so in where the large end will not. There Is less resistance.
 Too much importance is attached to q ksae attitude of women" It is sim Dle historical fant that every improve {nent thus far made in woman's con- &ition has been gained not by de- rnAnd from the majority, but by the . nA tTzt, O roming'' of q persistent few. The ad- wocates of progress have always had to contend not only with the oonserv- nffem of men, but with the conserva- aiam of women as well.
 When a storekeeper in Saco first em- pl0ycd . saleswoman, the men boycot- -1ed his steEe. and the women remon- strated with him upon the sin Of plac- ing a young woman in position of such publicity" When Lucy Stone tried to secure for married women the r1ght to their own property. women asked with seorn: Do you think would gfvaf myself where would not give my property?" When Elizabetf Blackwell began to study medicine, rhe women at her Clearinghouse re- fused to speak to her, and women passing her on the street held their skirts aside SO as not to touch her. When yassar College was opened, a prominent and cultured woman mis- ainnarv said: 'eThe mere fact that il ss calIed a college for women is enough to condemn it. One thing am sure of--that, no refined Christian snother will ever send her daughter tc Wassar College!" When the Oxford .pxaminations were thrown open to men. the Dean Of Chichester preacneo a sermon against it. in which he saic he had "ascertained. by an extendeo 6nouiry among gentlewomen, that the ~reat majority of them were either rhoIly indifferent or positively op. m<,sed to .'so wild an innovation and Snterference with the best traditions O their sex"
 m Eastern countries, where womer are shut up in zenanas :nd forbiddeI fo walk the streets unveiled, the wo men Themselves are among the strong est upholders of these traditional re etrictions. which they have been taught 4o think add to their dignity. The Chi nese lady is as proud of her smal feet as any American Anti" is of he ,,olifacal disabilities. Ramabai tells That when a progressive Hindu pro r,oses to educate his little daughters st IS not uncommon sor the women s1is family to threaten to drown them selves.
 All this only shows that human na Aure is conservative. and that 1t quite as conservative in women as Il men. During the last half-century multitude of Improvements have bee made in the laws. written and unwrit ten, relating to women. Every one ap nroyes of these changes now, becaus 5hey have become accomplished facts but not one of them would have bee made to this day if it had been nee