The daily morning journal and courier., 1906-08-04
T like suton's billiards best to watch" said Hoppe in response to a query on tha subject.-New York Sun.
IN THE FOREFRONT or FEMIN1sM
A Talk with Mrs. Kaufman, the
 Paris Woman Leader

A Talk with Mrs. Kauffmann, the
 Paris Woman Leader.
 Nothing il more striking than the hold feminisn-that is to say, the doc Urine of equality of the sexes-has up- on the French public. It is hardly pos- sible to take up a popular novel without seeing some reference to 1t. The ad- vanoed group of women who claim the vote have followed, step by step, their prototypes in London. When theI British woman processioned and orated, the French suffragettes processionizedI ard orated too; when demonstration took place in the House of Commons, above the very head of the Speaker, the free and independent feminists of Paris threw down handbllls like gauntlet on the floor of the chamber. The head and front of this offehding-n more typical of this volatile people than, say, the Salvation Army-is Mme. Kauff- mann. have been priviledged to hold a long conversation with her. She is advanced in life; her open and express sive countenance is crowned with white hairs. Her conversation is voluble, with a curious little laugh that punctu- ates each sentence.
 Down with the prettiness, useless prettiness,' may be said to be the gos- pei of Mime. Ka1ffmann Woman is too much a toy, alas sometimes a mere in- strument of pleasure. She is content to be "gentille" and pretty, like a graceful ornament in Saxony porcelain, instead of being an instrument of labor, the in- carnation of serIous ambitions. "I have been much struck" she said, "dur- ing these days of the great strike with the enthusiasm for socialist ideals dis played by young men of eighteen or nineteen belonging to the warktns classes. That is what I want in my own sex. wish them to become en- | thusiastic In social matters, It is a great relief from ones private sorrows. | That has been my experience. I was lunhapplly married Like every pro- incial girl in France, I was taught the necessity of sacrificing myself for my husband and my children, l found nothing to alleviate my sufferings un- | til I became interested in the social condition of others.
 | Man should take woman for his comrade, for his associate-that is the ideal condition, Tn the same way that he makes friends with young men of his own age, having similarity of ideas, | he should seek the friendship of young women. know case in which is was | done, with the happiest results. The young man has married his girl com adre and he has made the best of hus- bands. The co-education of the sexes Is what 1 firmly believe in"
 | Mme. Kauffmann has many original ideas on these matters. She thinks the | marriag laws need reforming, so astto place the man and woman on terms of 1 perfect equality. She is for the mate- rial noradl and physical development | of woman. She considers that the eX- | isting theory that a man should sup port his wife Is degrading to the latter. "No' she says, leach should contrib ute his or her part to the common la | bor." In this she is but the mouth | piece of the Socialist party who claim that a wife has a right, which should be legally recognized, to be paid for her housework, out of the wages of her | husband.
 As this pioneer in the army of femin- ism warmed to her subject, she asked | my opinion of the women's demonstra- tion in the chamber. When I depreca- ted it from the point of view of the dig nity of the cause, she replied that t | finished product
 was necessary in order to call popular attention to the just claims of the sex,
 Consider" she said we have nc mouthpiece among the Deputies. | But the Socialists?'
 "Ahthe Socialists. When their prin- | ciples remained in the theoretical stage before they had entered upon active political life, they were favorable to our demands, which were inscribed on theil programme. Now they have no need ot us. because we have not the vote.
 At this point in the conversation ar rived Mile Pelletier, doctor of medi- cine, who has conquered the right tc compete for staff appointment in an asylum. She is one of the cumulative feminists, and with her square and cor l setless figure and shortcut hair is suf- ficiently emancipated from feminine weaknesses to satisfy the very elect.
 Referring to pure feminism, Mme Kauffmann demanded absolute equality of opportunity for her sex, Let a wc- man be street sweeper or president a the Republic, if she has the ability for i it.
 President of the republic?" I