East Night High School - Rostrum Yearbook (Cincinnati, OH)

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The Woman of To-morrow LBJ 3432 CLASS ESSAY Ll?! VERY ERA brings it problems for solution and upon the wise determination of many of these problems depend conse- quences of momentous importance. Such a problem, and one affecting the very basis of civilization-the homeiis that contained in the question, ttWhat will the woman of tomorrow hefty, In seeking an answer we must study the woman of yesterday and of to-day. Of all the anomalies which the progress of civilization presents, none is more striking than that of the history of woman. In the ancient world her lot was one of extreme oppression. Where man was a bigot and barbarian, there woman was a. slave; where man was little more than a human clod, woman was a, drudge in the field; but lmlny where man has hewn the way to governmental and religious freedom here woman has become a leader of thought, and has been accorded a pesition in society com- mensurate with her worth. But, m0vement and progress are not synonymous terms. In evolution there is degeneration as well as regeneration, hence, only work that is in accord with the highest ideals of womanls nature is conducive to the development of her higher qualities and t0 the advancement of her sta- tion in the social order. In order to learn whether Woman Suffrage is in the line of advance, we must know whether the movement to obtain it has thus far blended itself with those that have proved promotive of womanls progress and that of government. It is supposed by some that the agitation for Womzm Suffrage, which has been so industriously stirred up, has won to its side a major- ity of the thinking women of this country. But this is not true, :15 i3 shown by opinions expressed by some of the most prominent women of our time. Mrs. Richard Watson Gilder said ttI believe giving women suffrage would he a backward step and entail far-reaching evil results, without any compensating good. The past fifty years have wrought more change in the conditions of life than any other previous period. The growth of religious liberty; the temper- ance movement; the opening of the professions and trades to women; the sudden advance of science; the expansion of mind and the social works fostered by free governments; have all contributed to place man and wmnum and es- pecially woman, upon an elevation from whence looking forth into the future, they see :1 new heaven and a new earth appearing radiant in the distant Vision. To this change the suffragists call attention and Hay, ltThis is, in great part, our work.u But, as a matter 'of fact, the suffrage movement has had hut little part in the matter. How absolute is that dividing line between womanis progress and womanls suffrage, we may realize when we consider what the result would be if we could know with certainty tomorrow, thnl women never would vote. Not one of her charities, great or small, would he crippled. Not :1 woman's college would close its doors, not a profession would withhold its diploma from her, not :1 trade its recompense. N at a single just law would be repealed or a had one framed. 32

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stock of all ages. We knew he had tried his best to keep it untainted. yet serve it as he would, we recognized it 21.x the same old article; whether it assumed the form of the Hartford Convention 01' the Revision 0f the Tariff, we nibbled at it. and from all indications. apparently enjoyed it. On one 00 zaision. I saw OtDonnell take his portion; not content with what had been allotted him, he turned and tool; the hall McCarthy lett. slipped it between the pages of his note-hook and. 1'e1'11a1'king that this was the stuff that grew richer with age, shoved it into his pocket. During Geumeh'y revitalion, too. some of 11s have gone to the 1111111'1l and helped 11111'5el1'es to more 11ti1'e1: than we eonhl get away with. A most ludicrous sight, indeed! As for Literature, it has been the bread of the feast. Without it the feast could not have been. We have witnessed the Assassination of Vamer 11nd the Trial of Shylneh: we have been snowhonntl with Whittier; we have searched with Evangeline and traveled with Irving; spent Saturday night with Burns and Christmas with Dickens. And who of 1111. watching for the lluly Grail. has seen himself 111i1'1'ered to no avail? Nor felt the thrill of the leperk' 11102111? Has itended the feast but. left his plate untouched. Mr. Schwartz was proud of us. Uveaxiunalh' he brought visitors around to see the Seniors I11 t1'11'11i121l l11ee7es we were handed many rhetorical bou- q111'1. and told what a el Jl'lntlH tuture awaited the man with a liberal education; but, like 11111111 oi the propositions, the proof was left to the student. Custom 011 0111' part was not neglected. We 1.1211 e the second annual dance and 21 most enjoyable affair it was. Ar. Tammie gluwrid, amaz'tt and curious, The mirth and fun grow fast and furious; The piper loud and louder hlew; The dancers quick and quicker flew: They reeltd, they set. they emssiil. they eleekit.n Then the Alumni t1'111h'1'e1l us a reception. We were henored on all sides. Evel'yluul'v VtUl in doing; the. Seniors favors. Even the Juniors invited us to their dance. I11 return for this, we gave, them the privilege. of listening to 0111' Oratiom and Essays in the audituritun. Gebhart and Ellis in the debate with the Senior t'tnnmereial t'l' 1am took the negative side of the 1111esti011, t'1e the Philippine Islands Detrimental tn the tinitetl States? l 111111 in handlhw it in a eonvinei1'1g manne1. won distinction for 1151 It was indeed fitting that our elass. the first to graduate from ttNew Woozl- wal'1l. should have the honor of getting out the first annual 1-1'1'1' published hy the East School. 1111'111111115. We feel that we have paid a llif'lt priee for what we ha 11' I '1'11'111'11. 111- '111151' of the many pleaxures suel'ilieeil; yet. who can set :1 value? Time alone 12111 110 that. We have teamed that we 1111 not know much. and without humility we know nothing. qu, 11l1ile Dr hl111'11n is pawsin;1 ll 1e diplomas, let us least. ltelhmh': Here :1 to the janitor who 0 teared the boauls and with patience. kept open the 51' 1'211111111' gate; Here s to the It 111'11lt1' who pointed the 11'111' and saw 115 through; 11:15tl1l1e1'e H to 0111' mm sweet a1l1'e': t0 theh' e11i111' ! Senior; 01' .11; the Seniors fi'iiin E11nt1Viwl1t IIiHh: twin ttOl Ll Wuetlw2 11'tl fin the elinkle jinkle 111111' we find 0111 pl: Lee. . SHIN ltf-i't' I'll N.

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Not a good book would be forfeited. Not a. family would he less secure in its domestic happiness. There is no great opposition to a wunian earning her own independence in any lawful calling, nor to the organized means employed hy women fer'pre- testing against the wrungs suffered by great multitudes of their sex. Nor is there any protest against the claim that women have equal rights with men. Rather, they are aeeerded the sacred superior rights by which they have the easiest work and the largest share of all the most agreeable and desirable enjoyments of this life. But the Woman Suffrage movement employs the wrong mode to attain the right object. The right object suught is, to remedy the wrongs and relieve the sufferings of their sex, the wrong mode is that which aims to enforce by law insteadof by lHVl'. It is one which assumes that man is the author and perpetuator of all these wrongs. and that he must, he restrained and regulated by constitutions and laws. as the chief and most trustworthy methods. Women have all the power they need to remedy the wrongs complained 0ft and yet they do not use it to that end. The men of 0111' age. and especially of our mnntry, are not only willing, but anxious to provide for the good of our sex. They will gladly bestow all that is just, reasonable and kind. Why not take the shorter course and request that men do for us that which we could not do better for ourselves if we had the ballot. ln demanding equality, suffragiats assume that there is not and has not been equality. There ean he no greater mistake, or one that indicates a coarser apprehension, than when women, seeking the right of suff'age, take it an an offense against their- natut'al equality that they are not allowed to help govern the world. It is as if the gentle Iliignunette and violet should rise in protest against the regal dahlia. when they are in truth a great deal more potentially regnant tlienmelyes. What do these women ask, but to he weighed in the gross balance of force, making nothing of that higher, liner nature hy which God experts them to flavor the world. In the view ml the suffragette. woman must govern. she must go into the fight, she must hruise and better herself-what is she equal to if not equal to man? If women could but see what they are doing now; what. superior beauty and power they possess: and how far above equality with men they rise. when they keep their own pure atmosphere of modesty and their field of peace: how they make a realm into which the poor bruised fighters, with their minds scarred with wrong, their hates. disappointments, grudges and hard worn ambitions-niay enme 10 he quieted and civilized. they would be very little apt to disrespect their se-ealled wmnanly subordination. Such a position signifies anything hut inferiority. With the steady improvement of machinery and in education, the wife and mother ean he more and more relieved from work, but, the home depends as much as ever upon her love. her skill, her eare. Let us honor our nwn natures, exalt our nwn opportunities, have and lead our own lives: and so hless the world and the republic through proteetwl homes. It lies with us to prove that education. instead of causing us to attempt work that helungs even less to the cultivated woman than to the ignorant, is fitting us to train statesman who will he the first to do us honor. The American Repuhlie depends linally for its existence and its greatness, upon the virtue and ahility of American womanhood. If our ideals are mistaken 0r unworthy, then there will he ultimately no I'epnhlie for men to guyern 01' defend. Woman is to implant the faith, man is to eanse the Natienls faith to show ilsell in works. More and more duties overlap, but they cannot heeenie interchangeable while sex continues to divide the race into halves of what should become a perfect whole. Woman Suffrage 33