New-York tribune., 1907-10-12
THE AMERICAN BOSS.
A Discreet" Frenchman Discovers That It's
Lovely Woman.

! y-bo is tho real American boss? Not il seems,
the politician, the lord of finance not even the
! labor union delegate The boss in America is
woman. lovely That is the last word OF a
Frenchman who has just been visiting this country
He is a discreet Frenchman, for he tells us so
himself. BY a Discreet Frenchman' is the way
the article IS signed 1t appears in The Saturday
Evening Post" and while it contains some things
complimentary to women other comments are
such that the writer's discretion is evident in the
Withholding of his name
He takes for a topic. he says, because in
America she is a compendium Of all topics. The
famboyant predominance of femaledom" sur
prised him immensely until he got used To it. be
cause, he ii il different from what he had
been used to in France Coming from a land where
women the 'bewitchng background" # was d
shock to him 10 find them the ''garng forefront
| of every picture. Even after a careful survey Of
the prospect he is compelled 10 say that. from the
French point of view, social fabric is "al up
side down.
1t is rather joke he told by this Frenchman-
as one of his criticisms of the American womar-
that she runs the churches" decides what shall
oe the religion Of each family" II he knew the
strenuous efforts that made in this country to
get men 10 90 TO church he would see the funny
@ SIue ol lhat himself The American woman, how
ever mis- his eye Why. one of her number" he
says in an aggrieved way, has become the sl-
preme pontiff of a new and powerful creed" Well
uiat tnlng has happened in other quarters of the
globe. An Englishwoman is at this moment AZ
/ the head of the theosophists
i am told" the writer adds, cautiously as II he
itaIy couIo not quite credit assertion 50 awful
that the laws of the land have been pradua Nv,
changed so that the femme sole to-day owns vaster
]
anywhere else on earth" He may be right there
but when he goes say that woman is the
mead OF the family here. and. behind the scenes
oIueh runs her manikin husbands business tnst
sne Is the one from whom puny official man takes
his orders IN al questions relating to DrbI;c or
private morals" one cannot hut feel that 10 &C. ;,,.
a trife sweeping
In spite Of the faults he sees In them he likes
the American women. He says so. Il write IN no
Ihlinleal spirit but rather who is predis-
posed 10 an almost boundless admiration for the
women OF America" The American woman is all
right only she is OF AN almost belIlcose self-as-
sertiveness' she is 'brazen and self-assertve''.
she is bent upon demonstrating that men are
| sefTs to whom she owes no reciprocal obi
CATION that is not voluntary. and she offers TYNE
that VIII soon be bereft OF those bewitching at
tributes that cluster about the dearest and best
miracle God ever performed-the creation OF wom-
ankind"
But let woman take comfort. These blemshes
are not OF her making. 1t is who has done it
the American man, with his mistaken cnivalry
"So-called chivalry," the French critic puts it,
that has been growing in your country with the
speed OF weed for several generations. No one
seems 10 KNOW how IL nurtured to its
present gorgeous efiprescence," he SAYS sarcasi-
cally, but it is the pride Of every American
and II has poisoned your your
women have been spoiled Have you ever
thought of the matter in that light you men?
Overindulgence in every whim has accus-
toned your women to treat you exactly as ths
spoiled child behaves toward its overfond parents
stu, this severe critic says nice things
about wOmen-here and there. He saws that he Is
almost tempted TO admit that in facial lovelness
they average higher than French Their
features are classic, he thinks but the great
American beauties are too coldy statuesQue for
the French taste II they had the expression that
sparkles in the French womans face they would be
perfect-to look upon He likes their slender
waists and swanlke necks-which French women
rarely possess. he saysbut he considers that thew
are except for the particularly well dressed women
lamentaby careless about their cOrseting He thinks
they nave stunning figures" but he is rather
shocked at the way even young girls display upon
the beach more Of their round beauty than a
French demoiselle would allow even her gouver-
nante to gaze upon" He says that he has seen
more beautiful arms in this country than anywhere
IN the world. Yet what sad irony he cruelty
adds. that these ravishng things of beauty should
be chiefly utilized by your to operate when
they talk, with the jerky jumps of a railway
semaphore. and when they walk, 10 Zip and flap
like the ungainly arms Of a windmill"
As TO intellect. he considers that American
women lead all others-except French women But
they spoiled by their colleges. which teach them
too many things not in line with those func-
uonal domains that strictly feminine They
have too many divergent aims; in conversation
they lack concentration and repose they talk too
much or else too little Worst of ALL they talk too
loudly"