The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1907-06-04
DEEP THOUGHTS ON REAL LIFE
WI KIRKPATRICK ENLIGHTENS
THE p. W l.. MEMBERS

'oNf
About the Advent OF the Amphiarehate.
The Professional Woman's League had
literary day yesterday afternoon at
re League House, 10s West Forty-ffth
,trcet. but save for a casual alluslon by
n the speakers TO Euripides, Homer and
! shakespeare there wa no discussion OF
I,at,ture. There was 40 need OF 1t, for
1.oree Kirkpatrick was there and he talked
Of fife.
The chairman, in introducing him. said
that his training az an ~expounder Of sooials
ism had covered a period Of eight years,
NOT counting three years OF actual work
in the guild. and that he was competent to
: clarify the subject for any club.
Life" said the ~elucidator. SIS energy.
Human life is human energy. Labor is
energy. Human labor is human energy.
Things hat are equal Ia the same thing are
souaI TO ZACH other, Therefore human
labor is human life
There was an awed silence.
Can any n deny that?' he inquired,
clutching his hair dramatically. No n
could and with a sigh Of relief Mr.. Kirk
nstrick patiently pushed his hair out OF his
ewes and took a fresh start. He explained
that Socialists were really very nice when
you come to know them and that II any
Of them were ever caught red handed in
the act of being unkind to the rich 1t was
becalse they were naturally disagreeable
and had nothing to do with socialism. He
said he didn't dislike rich persons at all
only the terrible system that made them 30.
Does he mean the Lawson system?'
asked a slender damsel, who was wearing
the latest thing in stripes.
'Hushl' interjected the woman behind.
The orator was soon talking about the
ownership, the control and the manage
ment OF the means Of production. He
seemed to know all about raw material,
machinery, means OF transportation, sur
plus product, the unearned increment.
the law Of diminishing returns and the
laws governing trade conditions; also laws
determining wages. which the capitalists
always kept as low as possible; also the
logical and sociological factors in the adj
justment Of standards Of living.
The audience was toe awestruck to ap-
olsud. Mr.. Kirkpatrick saw II and smiled
indulgently. Then he went on to tell how
man was naturally q predatory animal.
and how the System, which included Cap
fttl, Competition and several other de-
plorable things, simply threw the Prey
ritht into his hands. The Prey was the
Wage Garner, and. as Mr.. Kirkpatrick
described his position. he seemed TO have
no more chance for his life han a tame
pheasant driven in front Of a gun by a
I earnekeeper. Then he talked about morals.
He limited that morals In every form were
necessarily conspic uously absent during
the reign Of capitalism,
Unrestricted competition, where the
competitors are nearly equal, he Numbered,
employing the tragic gesture, 'degrades
the moral standard OF the community to
the level of that Of the most debased Of the
competitors
At this point Mrs, Mcdonald, the chair
man, admitted that the fifteen minutes
allotted TO the Socialist as well as the ten
apportioned to a French monologist who
hadn't been able TO come had been con-
sumed, and reluctantly he ~relinquished the
stage to Maurice Mike, who played three
selections on the violin.
Mrs. Bertha Washburn Howe then des-
canted on "The Descent OF Woman" and
she admitted that she had been reading
books in preparation for her paper. She
told how Primitive Woman had invented
sl the early industries and arts and how
Primitive Man had put on war paint and
feathers to win her favor,
We know who wears the war paint
now she added slyly. Some OF those
present looked indignant, some blushed,
and others didn't.
Then Mrs. Howe went on to say that
after while men took hold Of the arts and
industries, and did SO much better al them |
than the women, because Of their training
in hunting and fighting, hat they had
everything their own way. 1t seemed
good to them to introduce smonogamy
among females. and they did 30.
So far. the speaker admitted. she had
drawn her material from ancient history.
and treatises on sociology, a~nthropology, |
ethnology and other polysyllabio sciences.
The time had come for her to convey to
her hearers a few theories OF her own.
Women accepted the idea Of m~onogamy,
and made a business Of it, she continued.
Women cared for it more than did men.
They elevated Il in their minds TO the height
Of q moral ideal.
Then Immediately women began 10
experience heartbreak You know that
about nine women out of ten are breaking
their hearts now because they think some
man is untrue to them, or that some man
IL, going to be untrue TO them. The time
when monoRamy ia universal, II II ever Ia,
will be when women don't care 90 much
about il as they do now-when woman's
heart has decreased to it's normal size,
and woman's head has increased TO it's
normal size
When women are economically indie
pendent then men will nave to put on their
war paint again. some of you may ask,
What will be done with the children when
women are economically independent?
When that time comes the children will
be all right. There may be a man who
after the manner Of a truant officer will
and ask you not why Johnny or
Mary hasn't been TO school, but why you
haven't com TO collect the money belonging
10 Johnny and Mary
She smiled at Mr.. Kirkpatrick. He
seemed 10 know what abe meant. Then
she sat down.
There was a general rustic and murmur
Of pleased anticipation when Mrs. Hariette
Johnston Wood rose to discuss the question
Shall Women Proposef' II sounded
humorous, Mrs. Wood announced with
dignity that she would treat the subject
seriously in the affirmative, and she did.
She seemed TO have broweed about In
NE same library hat had been the scene
Of her predecessors investigations, and her
tes~rminology bore the same hall mark.
sbe, too. had harked back to the time
when men wore war paint. She men,
Toned some places where that custom