The Washington herald., 1912-01-30

Editors Note.-My talk 10 you yes
terday morning on the world position
of woman was not yet on the press
when ! received n letter from Mr.
James c. Waters. Jr., in which he as-
seFfa that he is convinced in his Own
mind that woman has abdIcated heI
throne without good cause" and that
in the abdicntIOn she ''has gained moth
ing worth while, In the article which
follows Mr.. Waters presents his ideas
OF wOman's loss, which, to his way Of
thinking, iH greater than her gain.
shall be glad 10 hear from any of my
readers concerning the question taken
up by him.
In his letter to me, Mr. Waters says
@It seems to me that n woman viii
make n much finer success as n woman
than she will n man."
Is there anything along the road Ot
her progress to-day that tends to make
her less n wOnhnt Il there anythinE
that suggests 10 your mind that she IL
striving after mascuIinitys
These are questions i leave open for
your discussion, and i shall be glad to
hear from every one Of my readers on
the subject.
Mr.. Waters Argument.
THE Women VIM Under this cap
ton a New York editor felicitated the
women schooI-teachers Of that city upon
the successful termination OF their fight
for equal pay. A few days later, the cleo
tIons having been held, in a general sum-
ming up by a prominent woman suffrage
REItator, the speaker referred proudly to
1911 as the golden year OF the woman's
rights movement, showing that besides
new entrances into territory heretofore
exclusively held by men. the women had
won full suffrage in five State and lin
tied suffrage in districts, counties, and
municipalities foo numerous to mention.
The new year opens with a rebuff.
Press advices from New York City are
10 the effect that Sheriff Harburger's re-
cent appointments of Mrs. Charles H.
Truax and other women as deputy sher-
IFS of New York County are void because
the appointees are not voters. And now
I suppose the gage of battle will be
picked up again with renewed vigor and
bitterness.
Laying aside my field glasses, as it
were, and retiring TO my den with my
cigar, amidst the silent coterie Of friends
gathered there, out of the infinitude there
comes to me this question: Has woman
won anything worth while? Is she really
the Eainer?'' And straightway answers
in myriad form come trooping in upon
me like Tinker Bells. nymphs, and elves
I
That the woman PAYS" is an axiom
as old as humanity itself. Its beginnings
antedate the stone age il is as funda-
mental as EuClid's definition Of curve.
Whether as a Circassian rose exchanging
her rugged life and her virtue for the vo-
lUptuOusness of an odalisque of some OF
toman pasha: whether as Katherine Glenn
mons. former actress. winning from How
ard Gould a decree which gave her the
largest alimOny ever awarded a woman:
whether as independent contractor, draw
ing magnificent wage as principal of a
Washington public school; whether as
Helen Stanton Blatch, impatiently cast
ing out her husband with the assurance
that she can earn her own living as a
civil engineer-always and everywhere
the woman pays. For whatever she gets.
human life exacts of woman the price.
and she is allowed no part in determining
what that price shall be, nor do the
bound volumes disclose a single case
where she has been permitted to escape
payment
Dangerous Extreme.
The pendulum having swung from the
hard conditions OF the common law 10
the fruition Of the wholesome movement
which eliminated in the married wom-
ems acts of lS4S and thereafter, seems
now approaching a dangerous extreme.
To-day for a man to express an opinion
that wOman's highest sphere is in the
home. as a wife and mother of family.
IS to call down on his head imprecations
more dreadful than the wailings OF the
fiends on the Broken. Yet, in this same
quaint doctrine. / here and now do re-
affirm my humble belief, and the gods in
Walhalla know I shall never apologize
for this subscription.
II occurred n mo that ha
permitted to contribute a mite to the
general discussion which the so-called
woman question has newly aroused.
Hence these lines. To the freak COM
monty called 'suffragette," that sexless.
petticoated caricature or a woman, who
goes stalking up and down the land, a
malodorous disseminator of lawIessness
and vituperatiOn, to this creature l pro-
pose to give no place in this article. The
waste Of time and energy involved in a
mere mention Of her would be wholly
Inexcusable were it not for a desire to
drive home, by specific reference, the fact
that in a discussion of woman's interests,
the miserable suffragette, in my opinion,
has no place. Woman suffrage, II would
seem, has come to stay. Its adjustment
as a part OF our national polity will be
worked out in the ultimate triumph OF
whatever Is best. The sufrragettes, how
ever, are a queer lot, whose propaganda
will in the end follow the usual course
Of misdirected effort, like the mother OF
'Nana's daughter" drowning in the filth
OF Paris.
I trust no reader will gather from these
lines any idea of sour grapes TO use
the vernacular. For. to be perfectly
frank. the writer of this article will
be satisfied to see the sweet young
things make early time and brave the
wintry blast to their dear hearts con-
tent. For him the question is devoid OF
any purely private interest His greeting
IS. Good cess to 'em all-long may they
wave AS for marriage, that is the one
human institution before which the writer
stands in silence and awe, so profound,
indeed, is his respect for Il. 1t should be
remembered, howEer, that mstrimony is
only one phase OF this question which, in