The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1902-11-16
The CAUSE OF WOMAN.
4 STUDY or THE EDITORIAL
WEN y or MRS. STATIONS DEATH
These Views Themselves . Proof of the
PrOgress Made By the Cause to
which she COnsecratcd Her Life
The <nti->unraEr Con, cntiOn Was
Held Recently The Chicago Teach.
ers and the Federation OF Labor.


woman quest ion" which has swept over Il he
county during the last two or three weeks,
has proved conclusivcly that it il far from
being the defunct issue which It's enemies
wish 1t was. and l. is in itself the strongest
proof that has been given Of the wonderful
progress which has been made. II Mrs.
Stanton. herself. had died twenty-five years
ego. even though she was then az the height
OF her powers. there would have been
no general outpouring of opinion, for al
that time there was no such recognition Of
women in any department of the worlds
activities as exists to-day. Their higher
education was in the experimental stage
the great rush Of their entrance into the
inirstriil field had Just begun. IN" laws.
although largely modified in their favor
they had not learned to take advantage Of
toany great extent; their vast organizations
which now play 80 important part in every
community. were then in embryo; even their
present physical freedom, which finds en-
Preston in tennis. golf, bicycling. auto
MODELLING aud various other forms, was
scarcely ioreshldowed II il only by
comparing "A newspaper Of ISIS with one Of
1902 that an adequate idea can he obtained
Of the wonderful increase in the place woman
holds in public interest,
In this mass of editorial expression a
few points stand out with such especial
promin'nrc, and occur with such una
rimty as almost To shake ones belief
in the faul,lcss logic of the masculine mind
For instance, the ma iurty of the papers
refer with the greatest pride To the excel
lent advantages women no% enjoy edu-
II
by saying, They can also have the suffrage
when the majority of them want it One
would logically suppos. from this that mono
OF III" other privileges was given until a
majority of the women demanded il, but,
a. matter of fact, not even a respectable
minority Of them, in a single community
ever asked for any concession which has
been granted. In some States a very few
worked strenuously for coeducation.
changes of laws, &c and in almost every
case ii was the suiTragists who did this
but in many of them women made no ef
fort. and the new rights were the result
simply of an awakened sense of Justice on
the part of the men in power Why il il 4.
then, that the franchise alone must wait
the demand of majority of women? The
statement can be verified. however. that
more women actually have petitioned for
the suffrage than all combined who have
asked for everything else which has been
conceded.
Still another large class of papers rejoice
al tn" many privileges which have been
obtained and the corresponding develop
ment of woman herself, but regret that
the pioneer workers should have added
the wild demand for the franchise" and
point out the disastrous effects this would
have on woman But does il not seem
perfectly logical To believe that since every
other demand these pioneers made has
fully Justified their foresight and judg-
mont, the one for the suffrage would not
likely prove to be the only exception, or
the only one which would bring calamity
To- women themselves; especially when
this result was predicted Of every step
and has not once Dcen verified Tins GER
talnly, l. logic.
The Minneapolis Times was among the
large number that declared: We take
occasion again TO say that We favor woman
suffrage whenever women want it-uot
before. But how many women must
first want il; Must the minority be for
ever denied representation because the
majority do not desire IL l. that logical?
i 1t fair; L. il in accordance with the
spirit of a republic?
Another ex IMPRESSION which occurred over
and over again was: Women do not vote
where they have the ballot" The papers
repeat this like parrot. Ii il absolutely
ia l>e, and the ngure- 10 prove this assertion
have b,'cn gwen again and again. There
can be only one true test. and that l. Ia
compare the vote of women with that of
men, where both have exactly the same
electoral rights, The only tour States
here this can be done show uniformly a
MI ht han #
men; ana the statistics of Australia and
New Zealand give the same result
There have Deen some extremely anus
ing statements lately in connection with
Mrs. stanton, and nobody would have en-
Joyed their humor NOR" keenly than She
herself. The Toiedo Ners spoiled fine
Of her children: "She rightly regarded
this her first and greatest duty. In this
respect not all of her fellow aglIators have
been so successful. Their cglect of home
duties to carry on this wOmans rights
propaganda Is the only vital weakness in
the movement Now how much does
that editor really know on this subject
He If simply exploiting one of his grand
father. ideas. Mis-. stanton was an ex-.
cellent housekerpcr and devoted mother,
and she l"ctured more years and in more
places, addressed more legislative com
mittees and prepared moro State papers
than almost any of her "fcllow-a gitatOrs
There ~ nothing Incompatible IN the two
spheres of activity, either for Mr.. stanton
or for any other woman. The thing above
all else which seemed to appeal to the
editors scn,ibi,ies WAS the tact that she
raised seven children, although many
women have raised seventeen, hut men
cannot help growing slightly hysterical
on this point one editor went 50 far a.
to say: For her domestic qualities she
will be remembered long after her efforts
Tor the cause she believed in have been
forgotten"
great many Of The papers took the occa-
sion to reproach the other sulTrag" advo-
Gates by pointing out that There was
never word, a tone or n gesture when
was not graciously feminine" This is all
true, but when she first began To speak in
public, there was no elithet too coarse and
masculine to apply To her, and. simply for
speaking on temperance, the press attacked
her more ticrCely tnan II ha, asSalcd the
surraxiSts for many years past. Ten
or twelve years ahu. when a convention
was held in syracuse, y. Y, one OF the
papers in "A complimentary account said
"th. 50, aSers were 80 much softer and
swccter-Nol""d than those Of early days.
Miss Anthony replied that she couldn't
imagine what had caused tn. change in
their Voices a. they We're the same omen
When Miss Anthony was reading over
the hundreds If recent editorials she ox-
claimed 20, the lack of knowledge, How
can We ever max. the world Intelligent
on our question:" But she agreed that
never before IN all hist Dry had there been
so splendid a consensus of editorial COM
ment, taken as "A whole, and that this IN
itself was most striking indication Of the