The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1903-07-19


don. Answered by Mrs. DigEs, For
merly Librarian of kansas-An Inter-
cst,nx EDlsode--The National Educa-
,lonal q on, ent lOn--Nalss RDaley's Victory
selicitous little story is waited over
ns seas from London. William I. Stead
.ditor of the RerieD NJ RerteUs has been
holding series Of" at homes" in the pleasant
nfscc Of that periodical at Mowbray House,
ny.rlooking the Thames. and hero the
nroorpssve thinkers of the day have been
AZ changing ideas through informal dis
cusson At recent gathering, Mrs. Kate
T,imbe Wolsey of kentucky, whose new
hook Republics VS. Woman published in
Iondon has attracted much comment.
drew a gloomy picture Of the position Of
womcn in the United States, which she
d.clarcd TO be worse than that of European
monarchies Now, it happened that "cud-
dled ND in one corner Of the big ROOM" to
,,ss her own expression, was Mrs. Annie l..
D;sus of Kansas, who. since the close OF
Nor form of Office as stat Librarian, has
heen studying economic conditions abroad.
Coming from a State where women have
bad school suffrage for over forty years
and municipal suffrage for sixteen years,
where they are eligible to most Of the Offices
and have filed many Of them. where they
take part in every political campaign, and
where their legal rights are almost equal
10 those of mon, the misrepresentation Of
her Southern compatriot were more than
abe could bear Il breathed hard and my
finger nails dug into the palms of my hands. y
abe writes, while Mrs, Wolsey gloated over
the pictur, she was painting and the audi
ono, called out responsibility, Shame!
Sham" at our sham republic.
Finally Mrs Diggs -uncuddled' herself
and going up to Mr.. Stead told him she was
m American and knew little about SUI
frage and things, and begged permission to
sav few words. He looked at the clear
eyed, resolute, diminutive woman, five feet
high and weighing about hundred pounds,
and concluded it would be safe to risk it.
Those who have heard Mrs. Diggs on the
platform are sure that the exalted status
OF the American woman was justly and
eloouently set forth, and this brighter side
of the picture We are told, was much
more welcome to that English audience
than the lugubrious distortion to which
they had just listened
The Kansas patriotic and fighting blood
was up and, in order to offset the Ill effects
of Mrs. Wolsey's book, which has been
widely circulated in England, Mrs. Diggs
prepared an able article on the position of
women in the United States, every point
fortified by statistics, which filed eleven
pages Of the July Westminster Rorie r.
II is a matter of congratulation that the
right woman happened to be on the right
spot at the right time The article says in
conclusion IT here il nothing more in evil
dence in American men then the pleasure
and pride they manifest when their wive =
render fine service in civic affairs or are
otherwise distinguished and recognized
as superior. sometimes think that ancient
ohivalry, which the undscerning lament
a. dead, is reincarnate in the fathers, sons,
brothers and husbands Of tho United States.
That there are still a multitude of men in
America of vastly less generous and noble
type ia, of course, also true, otherwise the
problem of civilization would now be
solved instead OF being just in process Of
solution"
Aslo Mrs. Wolsey's charge that in Amer
ica men monopoli2e the honors, gloriea.
favors, distinctions. pinnacles and powers,
y
imperial purple. WELD no sceptres, ell no
thrones. weir no crowns. nor be made
honorary cJlones and lmirals, nor have
public monuments TO commemorate their
deeds" Mrs Diggs admits it, but says none
Of the distinguished women she knows is
-pining for a pinnacle. IF it should be
Or o sed to erect a costly monument to
Susan r. Anthony that lady would answer:
Nonsense Spend your MONEY! 10 advance
the cause Of woman and a higher CiviliTa =
ton The spirit Of our republic is expressed
In the lines:
. God. make no more giants.
But elevate fhr race,
Mrs. Diggs takes this excellent oppor-
tnnity TO make some very clever thrusts at
certain contemplate determinations against
women in Great Britain, and she is cruel
enough to quote an edict of Queen Victoria
which has been made public by one Of her
recent biogra piers: "The Queen is most
anxious 10 enlist every one who can speak
or write to Join in checking this mad. wicked
folly Of Woman s Rights, with all its attend
ant horrors, on which her poor, feeble seN
Is bent. forgetting every sense of woman v
feeling and proprietv. She might rave
said that ii WAS n great many years ago
when her Ma jesty uttered this benighted
proclamation. and her later acts showed
that even heoccupant of a throne is capable
Of some progress. The student OF history.
however, must agree with Mrs DgRs
assertion that one "can only speculate as
TO the far higher position which might at
that time have been secured 10 the women
OF Great Britain had the situation not been
handicapped by the active hostility OF their
reyered sovereign.
Except bv her own creditable example,
there we're few specific acts of Queen VIC
toria which tended to raise the general
status of the women of her kingdom, and
none which advanced their public and
political status. The many gains which
they made during the last half Of her reign
were due to the creation OF lberalized
public sentiment by the heroic efforts OF the
women themselves and those of few able
ara stanch supporters in Parliament:
The Queen might have effected scores OF
sadly needed reforms in the condition Of
women through the supreme influence OF
the royal favor, but this influence was
steadfastly withheld.
MIS- Diggs says n personal acguainl-
ance convinces her that Mrs. Wolsey
really believes that "in her quixotic ana
veno'nous assault upon republics, and her
adoring devotion to monarchies, she rs
rendering signal service 10 her sex. 1t is
true that in all of the so-called republics
except the United States women have no
more legal and political rights than they
possess in monarchies, but she draws the
parallel principally between the United
States and Great Britain. 1t certainly
sno help to the women in the latter country
70 destroy the ideals they cherish OF the
freedom and happiness possessed by their
sex IN America, or to encourage English
men IN their oppression and injustice
toward their country women by assuring
them that these are less than in the boasted
republic across the ocean. II is the