The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, May 5, 1896, Page 10

10 THE SAN FRANCISCO CALL, TUESDAY, MAY 5, 1896. WOMEN WORK FOR WOMAN’S CAUSE. They Unite in Cheeri Champion of the ng “The Call” as the Inalienable Right of Suffrage. THE CONGRESS OPENS. Mrs. Stetson’s Able Paper on the Beginning of Civil i Power. TREND OF GOVERNMENT T0-DAY Rev. Anna Shaw and Messrs. Kellozg and Jordan Among the Speakers. Among manifestations of the most vivid interest and deepest enthusiasm the third annual meeting of the Woman’s Congress of the Pacific Coast opened yesterday morning in Native Sons’ Hall. The spa- cious meeting-place was hung with grace- ful festoons of orange cheesecloth and em- bowered in feathery palm branches, while here and there and everywhere were great clusters and bunches of California pop- pies, golden lupines and bright butter- cups. As for women, there were so many of them that the floor of the hall looked like a sea of bonnets. Women were there whose faces bore the delicately traced lines of a graceful old age, and young wives and mothers, looking vastly different from the screeching, scolding viragos sometimes represented in caricature as tvpes of the woman suffragist. Fairest of all, the dar- lings of the Golden West, the girls of Cali- fornia, sweet, fresh.and wholesome as our native flowers, gave a brightness all their own to the great assemblage. At half-past 10 o’clock the officers and speakers of the congress took their places on the stage. They were: Mrs. Sarah B. Cooper, Miss Susan B. Anthony, Rev. Anna'H. Shaw, Mrs. Ada Van Peit, Mrs. Nellie Blessing Eyster, Mrs. John F. Swift, Miss Sarah Severance, Mrs. George T. Gaden and Mrs. George W. Haight. A flutier of anticipation was noticeable throughout the aundience as the president { of the congress advanced to the front of the stage. “I will announce the opening of the third annual meeting of the Woman’s | Congress of the Pacific Coast,” said Mrs. Coonver, tapping the desk with the presi- dential gav ud_in order that we may commence ight T ask the Rev. Anna Shaw to invoke the divine blessing upon our iabors. Miss Shaw made a short but earnest | rayer, cailing upon the Holy Spirit for ight and guidance. She besought a special blessing upon the participants in the congress, and petitioned in a few deeply moving words that their endeavors might not prove in vain. The lady president then delivered her address of welcome. “Dear and honored friends, from where. soever you have come, I bid you welcome to this convention. Your presence here evinces the deep interest which you take | in this great movement in favor of woran snffrage. Our first congress had for its topic, ‘Woman,’ our second, ‘The Home,” and in this one we shall consider ‘Woman and Government.” Let us hope thatour | next convention will have to deal with ‘Woman in Government.’” [Great ap- plause.] | ‘“And now, kind friendsofthe pre: nd accounts of these meetings far and wide. Remember how many women in far away country districts will ride five, ten and even twenty miles in order to read the words which you may write. Remember this and let the spirit of justice and right inspire your pens to indite a message of joy and hope to awaiting femaie hearts.” Miss Suan 8. Anthony,beingintroduced | teachable. | this State, [ have never seen such w Mrs. Henrotin had been prevented from attending. In that lady’s place the Rev. | Anna Shaw was introduced. | “The men of California,” she said, “are as noble-minded and as generousas any that can be found on earth. They are Reason can penetrate their minds, and when they find it right to | change their views they are manly enough | to avow the change. As for the women of men. They keep not only abreast of the times, but even keep in touch with the very introduced the lady president of the con- gress, who delivered the inaugural ora- tion. Mrs. Cooper’s brilliant and able ad- dress was as follows: It has been stated that from homes, churches and systems of locomotion we judge of the civilization of any people. It seems to me we might safely leave out the last two, and say that homes measure and mark the civiliza- tion of any people. Chucches and modes of iransportation are but external expression of the vital forces that are in the home. Itis the home that challenges our best thought and our deepest concern. Not alone your home and my home, but the umversal home—the home of humanity. The logic of events tells us thatall men are brethren. If one member suffers, all suffer with him. We need a finer social and civil development as the solid basis of a true ma- terial prosperity. Far superior in importance to mere physical wealta the wealth which comes from high mental and moral power; the prosperity that les in the line of intelligence and real virtue. There must be genuine nobility of character, thought of the age. “I have been offered a home in Califor- or, the chances are that posterity will regar the brilliancy of the family jewsls more re- ! ligiously than the brightness of the family attend to this matter. Does he not find in the conduct of his home that he needs the hel, nd co-operation of hiswife? Is he not profite by her suggestion and experience? Woman is an individusl. We hear much about the sovereignty of the individual. The only way to make men and women sovereigns 1s to put on them the responsibility of thinking and Sciing for themselves. Any parent who does all the thinking for his child dwarfs that child. Any Government that undertakes to tell people, whether men or women, how to think and’ how to mct and ettempts to think and act for them will soon have & peo- Ple that are not worth having. Individual op- portunity and individual obligation are funda- mental brinciples of democratic government. Weakness is not a woman’s cherm. In the coming yearsa nobler womanhood will give us nobler homes. It is a mistake to suppose Use & woman’s thought reaches out after light and truth along all lines toat her love and devotion will be less fervent. Power mekes love stronger. Power makes virtues more lustrous. Strength is & desirable in man or woman, and weakness isnot a beauty or 8 glory. A love for what is essentially true and good—this is a royal virtue in either sex. No woman will ever be unsexed by seeking the good and the true along any line. The good and the true are one. And truth is eter- nal, and amid the perplexing discussions and opinions in regard to social and political econ- omy it is comforting to remember that truth or error, justice or injustice, are in no way de- genaanv. upon our own interpretation of them. ‘hese are inherent in the very nature of things, and human law secks in vain to ignore or defy SCENE AT THE ADJOURNMENT X e = e 154 rrTRa -~ 7L, OF THE MORNING SESSION OF TH [Sketched yestorday by a *Call”? artist.] are honored citizens of the town. One of the Fairbanks Brothers has given the town an academy, others of the family have piven a museum, sthenmum, an art gallery anda Y. M.C. A. building. There has nmever been & strike in St. Johnsbury. The Cheney silk manufactory in South Man- chester, Conn., is the largest in the world. The company furnish the ground at cost and lend money for homes. No saloons are allowed and no fences. The plans are by one architect. One thousand acres are covered by these works and these besutiful homes. There are no strikes in South Manchester. Take the Estey organ mnuhc!ov{l, at Bat- tleboro, Vt., as another instance. They have recently celebrated the completion of the two hundred and fiity-thousandth organ, The operatives own their homes and are & happy set of men. This may account for the beau- tiful harmony of their instruments. There is a close relation between harmony of irit and barmony oi production. There e no strikes at Brattleboro. The Pope | bicycle factory, at Hartiord, Conn., is an- other conspicuous instance. There are no Jess than 1400 hands employed. They own their homes. The noon lunch'at the works is | furnished at cost and the comfort of the work- “‘fi men is & primal thought.g§There are no strikes at the bicycle factory a tford. And the bicycles themselyes never go on strikes. The workingmen have put no such spirit in their manufacture. The owners of homes have every inducement 10 be honest workmen, faithful employes and respected citizens. Suppose all our outlying suburbs were dotted with small, comforiable i apors @ffice CiTy ano COUNTY or San FRANCISCE ADOLPH SUTKO. MAYOR Fac-Simile of a Letter From Hon. Taylor Rogers, Secretary of Mayor Adolph Sutro, Commending “The Call” on its Championship of Woman’s Cause. amid 8 storm of applause, replied to Mrs. Cooper’s address in terms of the warmest gratitude. “I am glad to be here this side of the Rocky Mountains again,’”’ she began, “and yet more gratified to find a new spirit reigning over the Golden West—a spirit of liberty and justice—a spirit of fairness and manliness. What a spectacle we are about to see. Our souls are about to be rejoiced by the sight of California’s sons crowning their mothers, ‘sives and si<ters witi the diadem of citizenship. Is thisnotenough to fill our hearts with gladness? ““And as though weé had not enough joy in our cup of blessing a great daily in this metropolis, THe CALL, has come out ready for any buitle in our cause! [Great applause.] For the first time a lnlgl:f‘ journal has, unsolicited and unexpected, taken up our fight and vowed to keep it up to the very end. May God biess that paper and prosper it. May the other papers follow its example, and aid the noble work which T.ie CALL has inaugu- rated.” [Great applause.] Mrs. Cooper expressed her regret that nia,” continued Miss Shaw—*a fine, valu- able home—but I cannot live in a place where I am not free. I would not even wish to be in heaven unless as a free soul. I have lost both father and mother since I saw you last. Only two weeks ago my dear ‘mother was taken to another world. My last gift to her rests in her coffin—a bunch of California’s wild roses. Oh, how I hope that I may live as she did, and, dy- ihng, leave a memory as grand and good as ers. “I have not prepared any plg:r for this congress, but if there should be anything in the fullnees of my heart or in the small- ness of my head which may prove of serv- ice toyon, I shall try to give it voice. Meanwhile, I repeat, I'am glad to be here, and if on the 3d of the coming November woman in California gains her freedom, I hope the offer.of a home here, to which' I have referred, may hold good. If it does, my dearest earthly hope shall be to live and die in California.” Mrs. Ada Van Pelt made a few remarks in answer to the sentiments expressed by the preceding speakers, after which she TAKES A MANLY STAND. 1630 Folsom street, May 3, 1896. Editor Morning Call: I rejoice at the manly stand you have taken in your paper for woman suffrage, and send in my name as a sub- scriber, beginning with May 3. May success attend you and our just causc is the wish of your friend. MRS. KNOX-GOODRICH, 246 North First street, San Jose, Cal. name. It is' in the home that these great moral transformations are to be worked out. The world is on the advance and our homes must respond by sending forth noble, well- uipped men and women, inspired with'splen- did purpose and lofty intent; ready, il needs be, to do and to suffer. Science needs explorers and expounders, and original thinkers are in demand. The footpaths of past generations are well trodden. We are pioneers 10 new fields of discovery. Origtnal students of nature are calied for. Great problems await solution. Great truths are travailing for birth. | Is Celifornia, fair queen of the West, keeping abreast of her own projected work? Is America, the presumptive mistressof civilization. ready | to meet her highest behests? I much fear the | affirmation is true that neither the classes of tatesmen, philosophers, artisans nor laborers are up to the modern complexity of their sev- eral professions. We must look to the home for the remedy of these shortcomi e average standard of the race must be raj . All humanity will be lashed and goaded into hope- less ecx‘wflunde h{' xactions thaitranscend its capabilities. A balance must be preserved between the present requirements of the age and the ability to meet those requirements. They must be made to harmonize. These are vital questions that reach back into the home for tgalr solution. The generation just at hand will be the logical sequence of the gen- 3 1 to-day. Nowt that the home—and this in- day. Now I believe cludes the women in the home—should seek to be an active force in governmental LI do not see how we can do our duty toour homes and to the commonwealth without its being so. ‘'What should be the primal aim of government? The wellbeing of the people, ‘We know and understand that political meas- ures affect the home and the lives of the peo- le for good or for ill. Has women no interest rnv.hm matters? Will it degrade or debase ‘woman to seek to protect her home from ad- i verse influences? You answer: The man csn \ them. They are not to be trified with, Happy the nation or the individual that discovers these essential truths and yields quick and cheerful obedience to them. Civilization is but another mode of expressing reverent compliance with nature’s permanent improvement along an: sists in bringing our opinions into nearer agreement with facts. We live in stirring times, in the midst of changes, religious, intellectual, social and po- litical. Questions’ profoundly suggestive and perplexing are constantly presenting them- selves. Men and women,in_ & hand-to-hand tussle with life, have little time for carefully cousidering the pros and cons of these agitai- ing topics.” Conscientious, truth-loving and progressive, they would fain direct their influ- ence in the way of righteous reform; and fear- fullest anundue eagerness for the new may work injustice to the old, they often silence real conviction and suffer themselves to be equipped with ready-made arguments and mo- uves. They yieid to the popular and the plausible for lack of opportunity to study and decide for themselves. 1tis not to be expected that all minds can accept the same presentation of a subject, nor should the advoeates of either side be charged with a lack of conscientiousness or a selfish disregard for the weliare of others. An in- herent sense of personal dignity will always begeta spiritof courteous consideration tor the opinions of an opponent, which is but a just tribute to & proper self-respect. ‘“Onr antagonist is our helper,” says Burke, and nothing is so subversive of fruth as intol- erance of discussion. Even public opinion is by no means infallible; it is sometimes simply public impertinence and absurdity. It is agi- tation that eliminates the truth as the churn- inf eliminates the butter; and “the age that agitates the most and the wisest has the most olden avoirdupois to stow away in its firkin."” he reality in the old, becomes the new dis- closure, just as the bud becomes the flower. In proportion as mankind gets away from savage conditions the home becomes more complex in its development and its power. The homes of a nation are its safeguard. The home is the nurse of patriotism. A man does not shoulder his musket in defense of his boarding-house. The world may have & thou- sand perches for a man, but it can have but one nest. And the home makes the man far more than the man makes the home. 1t would be a fine thmE for any commonwealth if every workingman had it {n his power to be invesi- ing every month, what he now pays for rent, in the payment on a home. There would be a fresh incentive for every member of the fam- ily to work toward the same end, until they could say, with just pride and happiness, “This is our home.” I rejoice whenever 1 see the little homes going up all around the sub- urbs of our beautiful City, tnvel(ng out into remoter districts, thus uniting the radical tendencies of the City with the more conserva- tive elements of country life. It is man that makes land valuable and homes increase the dignity and happiness of The janufacturing interests of great cities would be enhanced in value if the work- men had the paying of a home as the incentive Lo great industry and delity. This question of homes for the working clusses is a question of political economy. Homes for working- men would sound the death knell of strikes. It is the homeless 1and that will be the im- riled land, whether it be France, Ireland, l;gllnd. Scotland, or our own loved America. hayve been deeply interested in some re- markable facts lnrnls{ned by Rey. Dr. Northup, the veteran educator, who some time since d through this City on his way to Japan. e had been gathering statistics for a maga- zine article on strikes and the homno(‘ge working people. It was full of deep and sug- gestive import. The following were among the facts stated: In the city of Philadelohia, Wwith its 200,000 families, no less than 150, 000 are living in their own homes, and 80,000 of these were built by good, substantial loan and building associations, the stock of which is not taxed so highly is the work appreciated. There has not been a serious strike in Phila- delphia for many years. Look at the city of St. Johnsbury, Vt., where ufactos the {ren Fairbanks scales man: is turni 5,000 to a year. their homes and m No. 168, A RECORD TO BE PROUD OF. JOINT CAMPAIGN COMMITTHER HEADQUARTERS, 3 1630 FOLSOM STREET, SAN FRANCISCO. Editor “ The Call”—Dear Sir: May § 1896. I want to express myvery high appreciation of the splendid stand which “ The Call” has tiken upon the subject of woman suffrage. The record “The Call” made for itself in to-day’s issue is one of which it will always be p-oud, but never more than when the history of the last great struggle for uni- versal suffrage is written and it holds the proud position of being the first great daily newspaper with the courage and loyalty fo stand by the principles underlying our freedom. Respectfully. national life—justice, equality ang ANNA H. SHAW. — ized as “wicked San Francisco.” It does not call for saints, but simply for sensible, earnest, honest men and women, who prove their love to God by their love and service to their fel- low-men. Early saints died for their Lord. New saintliness must live to help and to bless those for whom He died. There needs to be more of the real (euownhig between the top 2nd the bottom of society. Instead of chiding, E WOMAN’S CONGRESS. thev shall carry these qualities as weapopg both of offense and defense. Good judgment comes very largely sound moral qualities, and_g0od judg to business what good steering is to tion. It keeps the ship in safe channels, jtdgment is indispensabie in the effort to right the wrongs of society. The c tive as well as ihe radical element mu sway, Inclosing I wish to say that it to cry out against the emancipation of wop, from the narrow bonds of the past. The has unrolled and unfolded until the of time has come. It is not the turbule a few discontented fanatics that calls wide range of work and influence. Ith along and devious journey, and ever: of that journey forward and onward ha assailed as a deviation from the propric sex. Woman has been accused of ste yond her sphere. Let us remember th, makes all virtues more rich_and more | tive. The way to make a noble race is t noble wiyes and mothers, and_the way velop the best wives and mothers is to the sympathy and elevate the energ woman in the sphere of life and though Let her do whatever she is fitted to do . We talk about woman’s sphere. She ha bad & sphere. She has never even had sphere. At best she has had only s cranny or corner. The attempt of human history been to carry on the world with half its f, like an attempt to seil a vessel with ha crew under the hatches. Womanhood as g spiritual force has been-subordinated if no repressed. And yet the woman question 15 balf the human question. It is & question that has more to do with the evolution higher home than all other que bined. Let us never forget that a c humanity is at once both masculine a: nine—a unity in duality. Just as the roots of a tree combine to convey a complex life which is to be the trunk, so_these distinctio: ‘work of life will give way to a growin which is to be developed to greater and strength by united work in are just at hand. Stepping beyond Yes. But she has continued to God ordered her forward and human ance and false wisdom can never outy Almighty. Larger duties lie before Larger work awaits her. And I joress dawn for which the world is waiting—a ¢ in which mankind shall have & lofti it has ever known in the larger life of womuan. The convention then adjourned -for lunch, a large number of the ladies pro- ceeding to the banquet-hall, where an-im- romptu refection, somewhat in the picnic ine, was served, each lady sharing the con- tents of her lunch-basket with three or four others, who reciprocated the courtesy. footia AFTERNOON SESSION: Interesting Papers on the Begin- nings and the Functlons of Government. At the opening of the afternoon session a paper written by Mrs. Charlotte Perkins Stetson was read by Mrs. Henry Krebs Jr, The subject considered was ‘‘The Begin- nings of Government,” and the essay was both profound and interesting. It was in part as follows: What is government? An extension of the will of some over the acts of others. Whatis it for? For the conservation of species. Govern- ment, in & society, is & form of co-relative activity, essentialto the continuance of that society and to {tsgrowth. With the human race the earliest forms of government are. loose and temporary, and based on primitive, offensive and defensive needs, as is the case in various animal govern- ments. The earlier forms of reproduction left no con. nection between mother and child; the egg was left to develop in grub and fly, or fish or reptile, without need of mother's care. No mutual service was possible, But as soon as the period of immaturity wag 50 prolonged as to need further maternal care, then the dawn of government appeared. Small budding ears were cuffed by wise ma- ternal paws; soft, furry bodies were more SU"IE bitten; individual action was restrained for the common good, and this was the begin- ning of government. So long as the mother held within herself, or had free access to all_sources of supplies, she was all in all to her children and ruled them by natural law. But when the food supply of the world be- came the property of men, and the women ailso THE WESTERN UNION TELEGRAPH COMPANY. can be wuars L Unreneate Tht it Aa US ————— INCORPORATE 21,000 OFFICES IN AMERICA. CABLE S zh:semmny TRANSMITS a0d DFLIVERS messages ouly o conditions i AZAINSL AI7 BY FoDeAlDE 8 MesAgs bAck W the s ' ERVICE TO ALL THE WORLD. its liablity, which have beet/ amented to by the sender of the following: ‘ding stati \o for comparison. sod the Company will ot boid itmelf Lisbie for errers er daiss e Rl by o et Me-aages. heyond the amount of tolls paid thereon. nor W any case whero the: ‘wTiting withis sty ed % th the Cunipany for transmission : G . NREPEATED MESSAGE. and s delisered by request of the sender. under the conditions named above. 1 I8 00t presouted dagy Call, S. F.: homes for the working classes, with quick and cheap transit—homes that could be paid for on easy installments with money that would otherwise be spent for rents in dreary dwell- ings in the desolate districts of the great City; suppose the hard-working mothers, who are now compelled to go forth to hard service day after day to eke out & mere pittance for family necessities, had a small plat of ground each where could be grown the vegetables for the table, chickens raised, flowers cultivated and home beautified, giving the children a partin the delightful labor, thus evoking the true home spirit in them, would there not be a great incentive to frugality and a wise saving of wages. 5 Crowded quarters, insufficient, poor food, un- healthy alleys and scant ciothing, account for ge proportion of the misery and crime of e cities. Having had close communication with more than 15,000 h;unel of the poor in this City during the t sixteen years, much of the ufi no?;!o( discouraged htheéz overworked mothers, and heolslau. neglect children—necessarily neglected, in many in- stances—where the mother goes forth to her day’s washing or scrubbing, envlnf her babe inthe rude cradle, with perhapsa little sister of 6or7 years to look after it and to do the work for ‘the family. This is no fanciful sketch. It is too lu{ly real, as we know from personal observation and experience. , I say, let us work for the time when the toilers and the ‘strugglers shall find their toil rain- bowed with hope—the lwrs of acquiring homes of their own. There is an old proverb, i oo Rk ot e pardeny. rehs Bih a Eat: 1 soon of it a garden; den and he will soon make of it a desert.” The at problem of the world’s history is open before us. It is briefly this: The strug- ge of the kingdom of heaven nst all that dragging the race downward. It aims to cre- ate social conditions which shall be {unnnd ‘beneficent. The kingdom of God is not impos- sible. even here, in what bas been character- RECEIVED at san Francisco, Cala. Ch. B. Mr. 38 Collect N. P. R. 9:40 P. M. THOS. T. ECKERT, President and General Manager. - — Standard Time Chico, Cal., May 4th, 1896, The CALL' honors itself as well as women in joining the ranks of the broad-minded statesmen and philanthro- pists of the Christian world who have declared for eqgual suf- frage. If you degrade the mother you degrade the son. MRS. GENERAL BIDWELL. cheer. Show the timid and dlmnnied that character is freedom; that purity is liberty; that to have few wants is to be rich, and that to be master of one's self is to be conqueror of all things. Let them feel that moral riches tell in the long run every time. There must be & deeper religious sense b; which common life is redeemed and ennobled. Uncommon religion is, for the most part, a failure on this common earth. What the true home needs is a religious climate or atmos- phere, full of health-giving ozone and stimu- 1ating sunshine. The truth and beauty of the higher life should bean objective reality. The ideal of character is too low both in home and in public. It is time for men and women to have a higher tonception of character and to indoctrinate children with this lofty concep- tion and give them a true idea asto what nobdle living really is—not merely as to what lnnhxnglh worth in the market place, but as to what is essentially right and true and just and of good report. Let virtue, honesty and religion be so ingrained into the young that ‘were their property, exchangeable at will for cows and sheep, her government was a farce and sou]x)z ceased to exist beyond the first years of babyhood. Government, both public and private, Has been vested in male hands since property was 80 vested. In this connection it is interesting 10 follow the relation of government to prop- erty all through our earlier history, and even il to-day, when there is still a propor. tion of the people who believe that the ballot should reston *‘property qualifications.” a Woman’s connection with government ig most vividly marked. Wealth has alwayg meant power in whatever hands it rested, a: the great land-holding Iady was & ruler, i right of her possessions. The chief in war became a king in peace and found occupation in maintaining internal ace among his increasing people, as he had Pefore 1n waging war between them and ©'Hh6 psyehic factors in thi t e psye n this process are, ‘o course, the real things (o be studied.as the GLAD TO SEE “THE CALL" LEAD. San Francisco, May 3. C. M. Shortridge, Editor “Call,” City—Dear Sir: Permit me to express a personal satisfaction, undoubtedly shared by many of your readers, in the stand you take on the woman suffrage question. Every one whose privilege it is to have the friendship of the thinking women of to-day cannot but wish to do all in his power to put men and wo men upon a political level, as they are on an intellectual and social equality; but it needs the aid of the press, as all reforms do, and as the present “Call” is a pet admiration of mine, I am glad to see it lead in this way. Respectfully. F. W. HARNDEN. * Py