The labor world. [volume] (Duluth, Minn.) 1896-current, 1918-03-02
SUSAN. l. / !. ANTHONY
ny JoHN d. BARRY.

n =, . 4 3.-I !. ,.,rg
At this aaoment am looking St two
photographs, one quaint and old-fash-
Toned, Of young woman with mild
and beautiful face, and with .lhairc,Hsoru
simply p over her eatssssths otaer a.
woman Of 30 strong; Benevolent, the
Jaw more pronounced, spectacles over
the eyes, the gray hair worn simply.
over the ears. They both reflect 4
Tine nature. The first makes the sec
ond all the more impressive. To-
Eethef they seem to say: *'Here is
what the years can do when they are
Well spent
The lace OF the older woman have
been carefully studying for some be-
trayal OF bitterness az q result OF long
disappointment. But there is none.
The features: are gentle and benig-
nant. The mouth is hsaNnorous and kind
The whole expression is Of 4 noble
serenity. The jaw suggests the will
that kept: effort going through long
life with a never a letup, never \
fahering, in spite OF criticism resent
nn*nt' abuse aPd ridicule.
If Snsan B. Anthony were alive now
she would be entering her ninety
ninth year. And she would have the
happiness OF seeing a prophecy that
she made many years ago apparently
on the way to fuHillInent. When she
picked 1890 as the year when the
women OF this country would have the
vote she made nice calculation. The
chances are that she hoped it would
come sooner. She allowed literally
for those slow processes of minds con-
trolled by prejudice. When. at the
age OF IS, she died, she knew that
woman suffrage had passed beyond
the stage where it could be laughed
out of the way. 1t had entered the
realm Of serious discussion. 1t was
winning success after success. Now it
looks as If the federal amendment
would pass the senate some time next
month and would be ratified by the
state legislat lures early enough to en-
able women throughout the country to
vote at the next presidential election.
Having jgreat cause to live for can
make happy life. But it can also
make a lite full of turbulence. It
takes q very exceptional nature to
meet the turbulence without irritation
Miss Anthony probably owed a good
deal to her Quaker ancestry. And in
her years Of striving she must have
had impressed on her again and again
the need OF self-control and patience.
She had to work against one Of the
most powerful forces in life, the pro-
found conviction on the part of men
that they were by nature superior to
women. She knew how this theory in
yolved the men Of = free republic in
absurd contradictions; but she must
also have known that contradictions
were an almost inevitable expression
Of human nature. 1--WE can't expect
men to be walking consistencies," Will
liam James used to cay, meaning by
the word men," all mankind.
Miss Anthony was drawn into her
public work by her interest in prohi-
bition. She quickly perceived that
she could not accomplish much with
out the vote and that women who felt
as she did in regard to prohibition
were virtually helpless till they could
actually function as citizens. So she
proceeded to devote to suffrage all
her energy. At time when travel
ing in this country was even harder
than it is now, and when accommoda-
tons were poor, she made strenuous
tours in state after state. She was
one of the first American women who
tried to improve conditions for work
ing women. She fought for the rights
of women in their own property and
their own children. During the Civil
war che struggled :devotedly for the
emancipation of the slaves. After the
war she tried to keep the word male
the federal constitution, enfranchising
the negro. But the politicians paid no
attention. They kept asserting This is
the negroes hour" meaning that it
was the hour Of the male negro. The
word male" was written into the
amendment three times.
1t was in Rochester, N. r., in 1872,
that Miss Anthony and other women.
in defiance of authority. succeeded in
getting themselves registered and in
voting. There is tradition that when
she was found guilty and fined 800
and costs the statue of justice in the
courthouse fell. Perhaps it did. Her
bert Spencer says the wonder is that
condolences don't occur oftener. Ida
Hustled Harper, in her history of the
fight for woman suffrage, says that
from this time "the question of
woman suffrage was lifted from one
of the grievances into one Of constitu-
tiona1 law" But what is more import
ant was that, in spite Of the immense
advertising it secured, It could not
break down obstinacy. In fact, OBJ
stinacy is not wholly broken down yet.
It is only a very few years ago that a
distinguished congressman said to q
suffrage worker who called at his Of
flee in the house and found him read
ing newspaper; II can't talk with
you about that now. See my secre-
tary." But this kind of rebuff was
mild in comparison with the insults
endured by Miss Anthony.
Mrs. Harper says that Miss Anthony
was a non-rssistant. But like many
non-resistants. she mover accepted de-
feat. She has been called the, Ma
poleon of the woman suffrage move
ment" and ;'.the Gladstone among
women" and she has been compared