The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1903-03-23

Special to The Globe
ANN ARBOR, Mich, March 21.-The
relation Of woman to man in the sphere
of industrial labor is one of the most
pertinent of the moment, especially in
the point of preserving what is called
the social equilibrium.
That we may be coming to a new in
quiry into the laws of natural science is
apparent from the recently spoken view
of one of our foremost thinkers-Carrol
d. Wright, our commissioner of labor
at Washington-who expresses himself
as believing that woman may satisfac..
torily take the place of man in what
may be called outside" empIoyments.
quote Mr.. Wright verbatim and in
eXtenso from his recent lecture at the
Berkeley Lyceum in New York, before
the League for Political Education, his
subject being Women in Industry"
Mr. Wright says: THE Industrial
freedom of women will result in a de-
crease in the marriage rate and an in
crease in the divorce rate. This prob
able condition of affairs does not fright
en- me in the least The woman capable
OF supporting herself will no longer
marry merely for convenience. 1t will
mean better marriage relation, be-
cause it Will be founded on companion
ship. Man will be elevated because he
VIII come to care more for intellectual
companionship in his home and the
family will become more sacred"
In looking over the causes which
have pushed woman into the indus
trial field he gave due weight to the
dread of household drudgery. He
found no intellectual inequality be-
tween the sexes, but merely womans
lack of opportunity heretofore The
commissioner held that the greatest
opposition to woman's Industrial eman-
cipation grew out of objection to her
political equality, to which it must in
eVitably lead. Her chief lack, so far,
he said, had been insufficient equip
ment.
This insufficient equipment" said
Mr.. Wright, has been largely the re-
suit or the expectation that the work
would be interrupted by matrimony.
Woman has, in most cases, had infe-
rlor positions. Then, too, so far wom-
an has lacked the strength of combi-
nation and association. She has had
the weakness of individual effort She
has had no influence save the fnflu-
ence of men, which was bound to be
selfish, for the possibility of personal
success is far more powerful than any
chivalry. 1t has been said that wom-
an is good imitatOr, a good copyist.
that she has never done anything in
intellectual work that has the germ Of
immortality in it. But she has filled a
number of occupations in such a man.
ner as to call for her recognition.
Woman in Rebellion.
1T is perfectly evident that woman
Is in open rebellion against the tradi-
uondI curse recorded in Genesis: that
she is determined to assert equality in
every direction. If woman's Industrial
emancipation leads to what many are
pleased to call political rights we must
not quarrel with it. 1t is not just
that all other advantages which may
have come through industrial emanci-
patton shall be withheld because of one
great privilege on which there is a
division Of sentiment. Woman is the
race, and as she is raised UP so will
the race be raised up"
we must hope that this is but q
theory of my friend Mr.. Wrights, for
surely with his knowledge of the nat
ural conditions of labor in the United
States at the present moment derived
from his intimate knowledge of labCf
statistics, he would not wish to sup
plement mans work with a woman's
There are already too many men who
have been prevented from carrying out
their natural duty as head of the fam
lily by women uSurpers of their place
in nature.
Whether the story of Genesis Is a
fabrication or tradition or not the lines
of probability do not seem to point
that way from a study of the animal
kingdom.
Woman has herdistinct place in ma
ture, and cannot be replaced in it by
any device yet known. Her physical
functions are such as will not permit
of her carrying out with the same
amount of comfort the duties of man
as he can himself maintain and this
should be understood without refer
ence to court of mental equity. The
pains and penalty of such action must
eventually revert on mankind ire
Spective of sex.
Women do assume the duties of men
successfully in certain cases and have
q right to do so in a case of necessity.
but they should never be called urOn
to assume or risk the hard tasks that
are imposed on man.
The fact that they can fill the places
OF men IS not an argument that they
should assume them. Scarcely should
it be so in ascendant races Possibly
there might seem to be some arg1-
ment deriVable from the fact that the
SquaW has been the better man" of
the tWo-but where has the race end
cd?
one also hearS OF the use of women
as sailors in Europe.
It is computed that altogether there
are some 10000 women earning their
living in this fashion along the wild
Breton coast. They must each and
every one OF them, obtain official1per-
mission before taking up their haz-
ardous and laborious calling; but this
once obtained they rank, as regards
wages and work. exactly as do the 9TH
er members of the crew.
In one respect only, but that a very
important one, are they inferior to
their male cote Hers. Each holder of
a permit receives also q second Off
cial document, boldly printed in red
ink which expressly forbids her ever
aspiring to the coveted position as
skipper of the craft.
In Norway, Sweden and Finland wo-