The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1911-06-15
FEMALE HIGHBALLERs AND HIGH
ROLLERS

morphine opium a gin fiZz
or course Miss Lang thinks women should
In their kicking out the electric light globes. or
anything OF that sort. but she thinks they ought
TO drink.
But all interest In Miss Lang's arguments falls
Tat when IL is made known that she is the junior
member of wholesale liquor firm. Her speeches
are In the interest OF her purse, Just as Miss
Phoebe Couzins' anti-temperance speeches were
made because the brewers of America pat her
on salary to take the stump for booze, and
promised to pension her for life. They failed to
Keep their part OF the contract ana only few
weeks ago Miss CouZins laid the agreement bare
IN St Louis. where she stranded In the
midst Of the very brewers who had contracted To
reward her handsomely for attacking tho tenn
perance cause,
II Will take more than the speeches Of women
hquor dealers and the utterances of woman liquor
lobbyists 10 persuade the noble womanhood of
America that the wives and mothers OF this
country should cease their relentless war on the
traffic which threatens the homes Of the nation.
This clipping from the NaShu4lIe Tennesseeam
suggests thought which we deem worthy OF
serious consideration. OF course it had to come
to this ia some degree. Women no longer con.
slider themselves inferior subordinate to
Modern civilization has brought them larger lib
erty and introduced them into wider fields of
activity than ever before. They are coming
into close contact and constant competition with
men every day. They are instituting compari-
sons and reasoning about rights; and the inev-
table result of such conditions Is upon us. viz:
women taking on the ways OF men. Walk
the city streets after nightfa and you find
them there, unaecompanied and unafrad Oh
serve their costumes and you will agree that
the present tendency is to reveal the figures
graceful lines rather than to hide It, Modish
and mannish, If not quite modest In the draw
ing-room women play bridge for money as men
play poker for stakes. Cigarette smoking and
winedrinking not altogether unknown by
any means In certain circles. And the demand
for the ballot is assuming the proportions of an
j international movement
I II is all "a part of the trend Of modern civil
zation, Through unavoidable mental processes
to irresistibly logical conclusons--though the
! processes may have been unconscious and the
conclusions undefned--woman has come TO claim
! the identical rights of the sterner sex. The
careful and oomprehending observer oan not
doubt this fact he watches the ways of the
world There is great danger at this point,
danger of feminine deterioration to the osad
vantage OF society and the home.
We not altogether lacking already in
signs that make us fear for the future. Ant
the peril lies in the fact that morally and logi
eally the woman has the unanswerable end o
the argument, She has demonstrated her abil
| ity To stand bs the side of man in all respects
save physical strength. And she certainly car
claim, with every authority Of reason, every rea
and reasonable right TO which man is entitled
Shn has the inalienable right to life, liberty ant
the pursuit of happiness. She has the right t,
acquire. hold and manage property. She ha
/ the right TO seek amusement and selfindul
gence in any form that man has We are speak
ing of rights purely in the abstract and defend
ing proposition that logically and morally i
unassailabie When We look the question
= souarely in the face difference of sex, moral
or logically, does not introduce dual STANDARD
of ethics A woman has much right, in tn
abstract to smoke a man has She has tn
same abstract right to enter saloon, to max
choice of her favorite beverage to get happ,
and hilarious as a has. II Is simply
matter of sentiment and social custom that ha
forbidden her and prevented her in the past
But coming to the consciousness OF her rights
as she rapidly Is, and watching the breaking o
barriers OF precedent and custom, she un
doubtedly does the danger faces us that on
> women may go the route of the present tenden
cy and take on the vices and habits of men, los
ing thereby the modesty and innocence ans
helpful influence of the woman of the past
This is not the vail of a pessimist. We still
believe in the goodness and genuineness Of on
women We believe, the Tcnnesseean does
y that the wives and mothers of this country ar
still arrayed in relentless warfare against tn
liquor traffic We are simply pointing presen
tendency and a possible danger Holding TIL
old-fashioned conception Of the sphere and mis-
sion of womanhood, trust that an earl,
check may be given the present dangerous di
rection of thought and life. And our conclu
sion is that in view of all these facts, the opel
saloon and the Indulgence beverage In in
toxicating liquors is not only menace to thu
manhood but 10 the women OF land we'll
AN INTERNATIONAL TIE-UP.