The Washington bee., 1912-01-27
THE WOMAN PAYS.

THE WOMAN PAYS.
The Women Win" Under this
caption a New York editor felicitated
/ the women school teachers of that
city upon the successful termination
OF their night for equal pay. A few
DAYS later, the elections having been
held, in a general summing up by
prominent woman suffrage agitatOr,
the speaker referred proudly to 1911
as the Golden Year of the wOman's
rights movement, showing that be-
sides new entrances into territory
| heretofore exclusively held by men,
the women had won full suffrage in
| five States and limited suffrage in
districts, counties and municipalities
| too numerous to mention.
The New Year opens with a re-
| buff. Press advices from New York
City are to the effect that Sheriff
Harburger's recent appointment OF
Mrs. Chas H Truax and other
women as deputy sheriffs of New
York County are void because the
appointees are not voters. And now
/ suppose the gage of battle will be
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 in
huitude there comes to me this ques-
ton: Has woman won anything
worth while Is she really the
gamer" And straightway answers in
myriad form come trooping III upon
me like Tinkcr-Bells, uymphcs and
elves about the House Peter built for
Weudy
That the woman pays Is am ak
| iom as old as humanity itself Its be-
ginning antedatc the stone age; 1t Is
as fundamental as Euclid's definition
of curve Whether as z CirCas-Iou
rose exchanging her rugged life and
her virtue for the v0iuptuousncss of
am pdaIfsque of some Ottoman
/ pasha: whether as Katherine Glenn
mons. former actress. winning from
Howard Gould Il decree which gave
| her the largest alImouy ever award
ed woman, whether as independent
contractor, drawing magnificent
wage as principal of Washington
public school; whether as Helen
Stanton Blat0h. impaticntly casting
out her husband with the assurance
| that She can earn her own living as
civil engineer always and every
where, the woman pays For what
ever she gets. human life cNaCtS uI
woman the price, and she Is allowed
no part I'm determining what that
price shall be. nor do the bound vol
. n d Z ..-tr.
, she has been permitted To escape pay
mcut
| The pendulum. having swung from
/ the hard condition OF the common
law 20 the fruitjon of the wholesome
movement which eliminated in the
Married Womeu's Acts of 1913 and
! thereafter. seems now approaching a
! dangerous extreme io-ddy tor
man to- express an opinion that
woman, highest sphere Is m the
/ home. as Il wife and mother of tam
, iiv. Is to call down on his head i'm
J precautions more dreadful than the
1yailiug- Of the ficuG, on the Brncken.
/ Yet. IN this same qralut doctrine, !
| here and now do reaifrm my humble
belief and the gods in Walhalla
know / shall never apologize for this
subscription.
1t occurred to me that ]. too. might
! be permitted to contribute a mite to
the general discussion which the So
called Woman Question has newly
aroused. Hence these lines To the
freak commonly called '5uffragctte.
that sexlesS. pettICOated Caricaturc OF
a woman. who goes stalking up and
down the land. a malodOrous dissent
natOT of laWnessuess and vituperation,
/ to this creature | propose to give no
place in this article. The waste OF
time and energy involved in d mere
mention OF her would be wholly mex
cusable were It not for desire to
drive home, by specific reference, the
/ fact that in a discussion OF woman
interests. the miserable suttragette.
! in my opinion has no place Woman
| suffrage. 1t would seem, has come to
stav. Its adjustment as part Of our
national polity will be worked out III
the ultimate triumph Of whatever IS
! best. The suffragettes. however, are
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.
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 ar
| ticle will be satisfied TO see the
sweet young things" make early time
and brave the wintry blast to their
dear hearts content. For him the
question is devoid of any purely pri-
vate interest. His greeting IS, Good