The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1903-06-21
THE CAUSE OF WOMAN.
FROM KITCHEN TO LABORATORY
IN FIFTY YEARS.
Giant strides Taken IN Half century
by Her In Many Directions -Ihe
New Business WOman--Gains FOR the
Sex In the WestPlaces II Holds
--Txpe;yrtters and Marriage Chances.

New Business WOmar--GainS 'oT '"e
Sex In tl.e West--Places II Hobs
--Typewriters and Marriage Chances.
In his commencement address at the
University Of Minnesota. James. BROOKS
Dill. the noted corporation lawyer OF New
York paid a splendid tribute to the dis
tinctiye product Of recent years-the bust
moss woman This moved the Minneapolis
Times to saw -The chief fault with woman
in business relations is that she has been
too ready with her chip-on-the-shoulder
attitude toward criticism and too eager to
oyeres,imate praise She is still near the
old starting point and cannot forget it
entirely She keeps constantly measuring
the ground she has passed over and calling
the worlds attention to what is, to her.
remarkable position to hold but which is
only so relatively and not actually Men
Lave refused to take the business woman
seriously and she has taken herself too
,eriously the Times thinks, and thus con-
tinues:
Why should 1t be anything unusual a 8 an
evidence Of mentality that woman can
make change. keep double entry system
Of accounts, run a typewriter. compose a
simple business letter or even be able to
speculate on change little with the "a me
results that men experience? These are
all not superhuman efforts Of the intellect,
Yet one sex has but recently got over regard
ing the woman agent in them as curious
social phenomenon. while the other has in
listed that womans every advanc" was the
prod .ioIs stride of a grantees.
l, is not al all surprising that reac-
,i,n should begiu 70 manifest itself against
,he constant exploiting of woman'S achieve
md III, fapGppry women
thcmse Ives 20 boast OF them; but tn" situa-
,on may be illustrated by the following
true i.cid2ut: 4 man aud his wife adopted
a five year-old girl from founding asylum
ard gave her every possible pleasure and
privilege. but she asonished them almost
very hour by cxciainng defantly; II
can Il want To, and ! will If ! want to-
They learned upon investigation that the
Girls il the asylum had been constantly
ta,ln-ed by the hoya with such remarks as
You can tIr this" and "Iou don't dare
do that. until they were in a continual
state If hiGercncy and determination
To show ,ha, they could and would perform
the same !eats as the boys.
Thi, is the exact situation with regard
to WON m to-day. II is about fifty years
since they began TO tick their heads out
of the kitchen and nursery and ask for a
new deal. From that time to this in every
new thing they have wanted to do they
have been met with the taunt; you
haven't the ability" Sometimes it WAS
the physical. sometimes the mental power
that was declared TO he lacking, but never
has the smallest concession been made
voluntarily and willingly. Boys have re-
ceived every possible encouragement Of
rrecept, example and opportunity; girls
every possible discourageme and until
recently, absolute prohibition.
Women have had to fight for every inch
they have gaired and TO prove their
Which was grounded In the belief that they
an a n YOU p can't Is it any Wonder that,
otter ha wing faced this handwriting on the
Eall for half century, women should be
Wait TO. and will II I want TO-" Is IL not
also the most natural thing in the world
What all creation assured them they dared
not and could not do, they should climb up
on the fence and crow long and loud to an
nounce the fact: -,
the same opportunities. women should not
achieve as much success as men IN many
depart ments Of the worlds work. and they
would not deserve any more credit than
men IOT OOllR u, were IL llot LOT lIt idCl lHd'
they have not had the assistance Of inheri..
lance or precedent and have been compelled
10 overcome prejudice and intolerance in
addition to the usual obstacles in business
life. When the idea of women in law or
medicine has been met with scorn and de,
ris;on il is to be expected that they will
boast Of those Of their sex who have be-
come conspicuous in these professions.
When tradition has declared that women
have not the physical endurance to NIL the
;.py ct hD1G ar
raphers. factory employees, &c, and the
statistics show that in these occupations
they lose less time on account OF illness
than do the men 1t Is unavoidable that
they should brag about it, And so when it
is declared that women never have in
vented anything they cannot resist calling
attention to the Government report OF
forty-four pages listing their inventions.
When it Is asserted that women never have
di. scovered anything, the proud response
must come that radium and polonium. the
two most recent and remarkable chemical
dicoveries Of the age, are due to woman.
Since for centuries it was held that at the
creation OF the world the sphere Of women
was eternally outli ned, and yet those OF the
present generation have splintered that
sphere into countless fragments, it IS in
evitabe that each new tangent should be
held triumphantly up TO the public view
to prove the absurdity OF the old theories
In way woman's every advance really
is "the prodigious stride of a giantess,'
for it spans the great gulf which lies be-
tween her past and her present-a gulf as
broad and deep as that which separates
two worlds. 1t may be the public is some
what weary of her exploiting and threatens
a rebellion against the eternal feminine.
hu, 1t must 60 on and on while the transit |
ton period lasts. The time will doubtless
come when every woman, the same az
man. will work out her individual destiny. |
never perhaps with an equal chance, but |
with much better preparation and far less |
opposition than now. A departure from |
the conventional routine will be regarded |
not AZ an anomaly but as a natural step |
in progress and evolution, to he considered |
simply in it's relation to the social and
economic system. without any affiliation
with sex Indeed, on no one point are |
graduated as on the probable elimination
~ the whole sex question, But for the
present there ia no alternative except to
struggle through the conflict between the