Waterbury evening Democrat., 1903-07-24
THE AMERICAN WOMAN.
Henry Labouchere's Report on the In-
 vasion of Europe.

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 The American woman has unques- tionably been success in Europe. She is generally pretty. She Is clever. She takes pains to please those whom she considers worth pleasing. She has that instinct for the class above which only they have who belong to the class below, and to use an expression employed by M. Taine, she always stands with shouldered arms and feels herself on parade" Her affectations
 and the sins which she commits against the commandments of Euro pean good manners are overlooked be- cause of her American origin, more- over because of the favor accorded to them by royal personages, and also be- cause of the exalted positions which many American women have acquired by marriage. They are the fashion, and it Is almost impossible to escape the influence of the fashions of our own times. With these advantages, is it to be wondered at that American
 women have succeeded socially in Europe?
 But are they also success as wives? It is true that comparatively few American women have trailed their character through the divorce court in England. Social success Is what they aim at, and the exposure entailed by divorce court proceedings might en- danger this success, the more so be- cause their social position is not as protected as if they were surrounded by connections as are the women in in this country. They are tolerated and expect their husbands to be toler- ant Society is the end-a1l of the life of such an American woman, and, since she has obtained footho1d in England, society has degenerated from polite pleasure into profes- sion. There is little privacy in Eng fish society now. Dinners and dances are fully described in the newspapers. Who drives or walks Is reported The slightest occurrence Is alluded to in print. A paragraph writer calls early in the morning and again late in the afternoon and is inspired so that the most trifiing and apparently uninter- esting personal detail may be publish ed by the papers.
 Is the American woman in Europe a success as mother? It Is too early to answer that question. It will be surprising if 1t is later found that the kind of woman that has been de scribed has been successful trainer of her children and if she proves sue cessful in that direction 1t will be proof of the good qualities of the American character and the results of free and Independent institutions.
 Has the American woman come to stay? That, too, remains to be seen. If the women of this country can main tain the higher and more woman1y ideals which have been handed down to them from past generations and profit by the education and experience of modern surroundings they may await a reaction with confidence, as- sured that their beauty, their home making qualities and their disincIina- tion to thrust themselves under the limelignt will be appreciated when men of the old world cease to go to the new to procure money and when the Ameri- can woman and her ways are no longer popular novelties in Europe.
 It scarcely need be added that these observations must not be applied to all American women or wives in Europe. There are many of them who are orna- ments, morally, mentally and physical ly, to the country of their adoption, and who. by their example, teach their European sisters lessons of reasonable ness and self-reliance which are of con- siderable va1ue.-London Truth.