Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-12-31
having been made to render it more dis


tfnctly clear:
II have been surprised to note that Presi-
dent Roosevelt. in his recent message to
Congress, touched upon the subject Of the
whipping post, and hope that The Star
VIII do everything in its power against
its establishment. An investigation will
perhaps disclose what wife-beater is.
Is he merely the man who knocks his wife
in the head or he who strikes her in the
heart? There are several kinds of wife
beating to my ignorant mind. For in
stance, there is the man who gets in an
argument with his wife and tells her a
dozen times to shut up he will kill
her.. She feels very much abused, and,
poor woman, she thrashes away for awhile
| her blood fairly bols. When he sees her
| in this condition he ups with his fist and
| let's her have 1t; then he picks up his hat
and leaves the house; If he had sense he
| striking the blow: IL she had sense she
| would shut up when he told her. They are
two Of a kind Let them fight 1t out be-
| tween themselves. He will never Kill her.
| In time these two will understand each
others value.
"Then there is the 'wife-beater,' who
comes home two hours late for his dinner
and because the victuals are too cold or
too dry he kicks up fuss. This is done
as an excuse for his absence. His wife
pleads with him and the result Is he VIII
not eat any dinner, he considers himself
aggrieVed, walks upstairs, puts on his pest
clothes, throws out his noble chest and de-
mands a dollar or two for his dinner; per-
haps the last dollar that is in the house.
Which is the Worst Woundp
Here are two beaten wives; one got a
blow in the face, the other stab In the
heart. The one is a wound, the other q
scar. Which will heal the sooner?
''Then there is the wife-beater' who comes
home at 2 or o'clock in the morning and
because his wife is in tears or because his
child is sick or cross, he opens the window.
picks up the baby's bottle and dashes it to
the yard below. When his wife pleads with
him or scolds him, in either case the result
Is the same. He orders her and the crying
baby from the room.
Next there is the 'wife-beater' who gets
his can of beer and his pipe and the lamp
and a box of matches and sits up from 81 m.
until 1 or maybe 2 o'clock in the morning.
Srumbling and talking to himself about his
luck, bad luck always, and making such
racket that you would certainly be satlsfied
If he gave you half dozen blows providing
he lay down and go to sleep and let others
do the same.
FINALLY, there Is the 'wife-beater' who
rakes up all your relatives, living or Dead
and says things about them that are enough
to make them turn in their graves, If dead,
or go after him to square things up If living.
Which Kind Will Be Whipped
"Now, which of these 'wife-beaters' is the
be it is going to be for them all If SO it
won't cause much trouble The unfortunate
laborer won't feel so bad about it, for he
may some day meet there person in high
society undergoing the same punishment,
for there are wife-beaters of all grades in
every rank of life. Perhaps, then, this an
cient institution might turn out to be a
blessing in these days. We don't do things
half way in the District of Columbia. Any
foer r-n,-th Jnf, Of all l. At,
right. So If the whipping post goes up at
all, by all means let 1t have solid founda-
ton, so that all wife-beaters may have a
taste of it, and then they can sympathize
with each other. There is nothing in the
world that draws men together like the
tender bonds of sympathy. They might
even form the 'wfe-beaters' club where
they could discuss the best methods of beat
ing their wives and at the same time look
into their own consciences, and they might
come to the conclusion that the laborer's
way of beating his wife is not altogether
the worst way. They would certainly find
out that, no matter how refined there are
some actions that hurt worse than whip
ping.
Il hope we will hear no more of the
whipping post but If it is going up for
any, establish it for all who ill-treat their
wives, whether it be by a knock in the
head or In the heart or for those who eat
the flesh from the bone and then gnaw the
bone and then suck the marrow. OF
course, there are but few of each of these
kinds of wife-beaters in this District, while
there are about 100000 noble. generous
women of every class in life. Don't for
get the children of the wife-beaters. They
are the ones who would suffer from the
disgrace of the whipping post
: No More Need Here Than Elsewhere.
J. N. Johnson, writing as representative
of the colored residents of the District
sends letter from which the following ex-
tracts are taken:
Regarding the necessity for the whip
ping post proper remedy for wife
heaters, there is no more need for 1t here
than in the states where citizens have a
say. In the states there are severe penal
ties against striking women, most states
making it aggravated assault, trying it
fairly and assessing the punishment
through juries; besides their civil law per-
mits divorce where husbands cruelty treat
their wives. What is the matter with our
over governed city that the divorce law has
been changed to force unsuitable couples to
remain together and commit graver
crimes?
Looking at the character of the class
who bring their family quarrels into the
police courts, If woman wishes to live
with a man who beats and strikes her.
could she be a decent woman and remain
with man who is dashed as an animal
to force him up to husbandly duty? The
wife who asks such remedy and then
lives with q man as her husband after its
infiction is unworthy of consideration and
her action warrants further inquiry into
many of the causes leading up to the beat
ing and striking. There and always
will be cases of striking among class who
do not take their family affairs into court
except those of q serious nature. The
whipping post would only deal with the
class who line up at the police courts with
every little thing that comes up in or about
the family, to say nothing of the hun
dreds of family disputes the police settle
out of court.
The Lash for Horse-Beaters, Too.
Mrs. jeanette Knoble other uses
for the whipping post than the punishment
of wife-beaters, saying:
while the whipping post has been sug-
gested as the best and only adequate pun
shment for wife beaters,' why not include
horse beaters,' who are the worse fiends of
the two? A wife strike back in her
own defense or get redress in the courts
while the numberless poor beasts of bur-
den must go and bear their torture at
the hands of beings whom no name fifty
describes. The whipping post is the only
real remedy for such fendishness. When
the court accepts a fine for cruelty and
crime it licenses the same. If the brute is
able to pay his fine he is at liberty to go