The Wahpeton times. [volume] (Wahpeton, Richland County, Dakota [N.D.]) 1879-1919, 1907-07-04

~:==s So
| voyageurs was delightfully."- incon.
gruous collection of mental curios
! from every nation and cult.
On the other hand. the professional
woman. whose ranks were more and
more crowded with the bright, the
eager. the progressive and the broad
minded women. addressed one ques.
/ ton to the future: What is there
can do, singly or combined with my
sister women, to help this sinsick old
world to grow healthy. strong and
beautiful" And the answer is found
in the millions of faithful workers
in the great reform movements of
the day.
! A woman is woman wherever you
find her. When the woman with a
club found there were other gates to
progress besides the one that led from
her own selfish domain she declared
for all sorts of humanitarian inter.
ests, except. perchance, such as would
bring her into close contact with the
great unwashed multitude. She is
still broad enough to make wealth per
Sc the open sesame into clubdom; but
her little black ball is quite ready
to be dropped at the name of any one
whose religion, social standing or color
might make her an undesirable addf-
ton to the aristocratic club.
Specifically, the cultured women of
America, in their organized move
ments, are showing the excellent taste
which is expected of the American
woman. Movements are enthusiast
tically going forward for the better
ment of sanitary laws in public and
in home life; for civic reform such as
Is possible for women to grapple with
in their present development; for the
study of the home life; and of the
art and science Of lettering condi-
tions within those four dear walls;
for reform in temperance; for better
conditions for the pauper and the
prison inmate; for the study of the
child in its relation to home life; and,
most aggressive of all, to secure, uni
versally, the ballot for women. These
are the lines along which the cultured
women of America are moving for
ward toward the millennium of uni
versal peace and good will.
In Great Britain there is equal en-
thusiasm and strenuous effort among
the women of the nobility, as we'll as
among the professional classes and
the .laborers; but in that country the
lines between classes are very sharp
ly drawn. "Noblesse oblige" is en-
blazoned on every public or reform
movement. The so.called lower
classes-which, by the way, are all
the classes not endowed with titles
are looked upon by the properly
trained aristocrat as his or her wards
and proteges. The nobler the woman
the better is her sense of duty toward
all who were not born with preflxes
to their names. With beautiful spir-
ituality, she devotes herself most un-
selfishly and grandly to the dissipa-
fostered by q monarchical form of
government. 1t is nearly impossible
for the American woman to under
stand the point of view of the English
woman. unless she summers and win
tiers on the rain-soaked island which
rules so much of the world.
1t must be confessed. too. that as
long as the professional and work
ing English woman remains in her
own country she is quite content to
accept all the lovely favors showered
upon her by her noble patronesses:
but woe to her if she should ven
ture to spend few years in the
United States! Ninety-nine chances
to one she will become a more pro.
nounced American than any woman
born under the folds Of the stars and
stripes The British woman has
grown up with the sentiment of pat
ronizing or being patronized inter-
woven with every fiber of her being,
and therefore she shapes all her plans
and all her work to give or to win
favors. Headed by a number of high
born danes. the woman's club idea
has taken solid root in the soil of the
British isles. Besides, there are num-
berless guilds and unions formed for
every conceivable purpose, but every
one of them is dominated by the
aristocratic idea of ownership. The
English peeress Of to-day counts it
very fashionable to be cultured and
humanitarian. She gives money and
gifts to humanity; she gives her
wealth: she imparts Of her strength
and vitality; she devotes her time: