The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1905-03-11
Copyright, 1904.

the batteries Of critical eyes before me,
and, what was more, I knew I had a
brilliant paper. recalled what a
bright writer has said: Nsomebody
else may write a paper and you may
read It; you may write a paper and
somebody else may read it; but
if you, both write and read a
paper, then you give. a paper.' No
one in all that great audience knew that
was not to give my paper; and it was
a brilliant one.
"The club woman Of the future, the
ideal club woman began will have
nothing to do with her house except to let
herself out in the morning and into it
again at night with her own latchkey''-
l could feel my audience gasp and tighten
and brace itself. THE idea that home is
sacred because the dinner is cooked there
should be exploded, and will be some day.
Home is sacred only because love and
cOngeniality and real companionship are
there. The club wonans ideal home will
be one where she is as free as the man
who calls himself the head Of it. Her food
| will be prepared by. specialists, and her
| household drudgery will be done by
trained assistants. A whole street will be
cared for by one set Of servants who know
their business; and the consequence will
be that the cost of living will be reduced
two thirds, time will be economical, and
self-reliance and individualism will be
truly developed. Man idealizes his home
under present conditions, but put him into
1T and make him stay there whole week,
as many women must under present con-
d1tions, and he will be the maddest and
1 most unreasonable creature thai walks the
| earth. Yet he believes with all his me-
dleval soul that home is the only place
for women.
From this I went on to pirate of the
time when woman should be wholly
emanclpated; when she should stand
side by side with man in the industrial
and financial world, still retaining her
Womanly qualities and feminine charm.
Miss Morrison had given utterance to
her most ultra views on the woman
question, and could feel my audience
chafe and rustic under them. But I
read calmly on to the end, frequently
interrupted by applause. When I sat
down there was vigorous hand-clapping
lI .;f;1s far away in the gallery a faint,
into a peaceful camp, and an explosion
was imminent.
But the chairman was wise and knew
how to keep her audience well in hand,
A discussion of my paper was down on
the a program, but the woman who was to
discontinue, Mrs. Henry of Chicago
4 was called upon to fill the place of the
absent one.
After the very clever paper we have
Just listened to- she began, with its
suggestive ideas, one scarcely knows
where to begin to differ with the last
,, speaker. But it seems to me that as g
body we must go more into PRACTICAL
ties ties and "a, less into glitteri1ng general
ties. What we want at this stage OF
: the club movement is for the American
woman to have more courage, to live &C
cordlng to her means and up tosher owl
} convictions; to be honest with herself
: and to do only those things which arr
really worth while. This is an agt
When there are SO many beautiful
ideals, SO many lovely things to do ant
know which are the right ones. This i.
not the time for the American clul
woman to be untrue to herself or to tn,
3 demands upon her. If she has only he
9 own life, to consider, apart from al
other outside SIDE; int interests; if she is NJ
Q mother; it she has evolved some wa,
a to run this world that is general i'm
: provement upon the plan of the Create
t who destined her primarily for the 20
t sition of mother of races of men; why
0 then, the last paper opens to us som
= very, important and pertinent sugges
t tions: But. so long as we are womel
WIZ 1i1FO OOhC1 11NCS uCptuucutE upOu%u
= for happiness, for courage, for com
b fort, for help, why, it seems to me tina
d this is the time to give ourselves pause
a to ask seriously. if this can be the high
n est ideal for club women that can b
Y evolved.''
n Shessaid much more in the sam
d strain, and she, too, was hearth
: cheered; for audiences, no matter wha
s their sex, can be depended to cheer a
|. all Well-rounded sentences. But ], heeC
e less creature that had been, felt m
s house of cards tumbling around me.
Q had not then learned how to argue an
|, to take argument in return, which las
l. is as great an accomplishment a
d women may hope to learn. =
r To Be Continued Next Saturday.