OUR AMERICAN LETTER.

Evening Star, Issue 7183, 11 April 1887, Page 2

OUR AMERICAN LETTER.

AMERICAN WOMEN IN JOURNALISM. The advances made in education and the general opening of our high schools, colleges, and universities is bringing a educated women in sharp competition with men in many of the professions of lew, of medicine, of the pulpit; and latterly a determined attack is being made on the field of journalism, with the view ot capturing and holding it. The “ sweet girl graduate” puts aside the pink essay and diploma the morning after commencement, and, with an air of maiden modesty, com' bined with sturdy resolution, betakes her* self to the editorial office of the paper whioh comes nearest her fancy and files an application for literary and journalistic work. She is thoroughly in earnest about it, and will take no refusal. She expects to win. The ancient spinster, who has spent the flowers of her youth in spanking the boys in the schoolroom, is most anxious to try this new field. Some matrons become weary of the monotonous round of household duties, and are desirous of a change, and see in journalism a broader scope for the exercise of her gifts. Some of these are most persistent, and wilt tesort to all the wiles of the politician in order to obtain places, A woman's Press Association has been formed in the State of Illinois with head, quarters in Chicago, ft is composed of women who are authors of books or who have written articles for magawnes and other journals. It is organised with the usual officers, and meets semi-annnally for discussion for mutual improvement and mutual protection. Few of these women, I fancy, realise the diversity of qualities which go to make up a successful journalist, A person may be competent to produce a read' able article upon a given subject, or may be able to furnish a weekly article that would be acceptable to an editor or the reader, but who would be hopelessly at sea without a rudder in attempting to chronicle or to intelligently comment upon the current events of the day as (hey occur. There are certainly many women who possess the requisite taste, knowledge, and experience to enable them to be good dramatic and musical critics and bookreviewers. The judicial mind is rare among men; it is still rarer in women. A woman is usually guided by impulse and feeling, more than by a sense of justice, in the formation of her opinion. Few women would be successful in the newspaper departments of agriculture, horticulture, stock-rasing, science, invention, discovery, commerce, politics, real estate, architecture, and political economy. There are many woq\eq of good minds who could manage the departments of education, morals, nome, and fashions. Some few women can produce spring poetry. Rose Cleveland has, since vacating the tripod of the ‘ Literary Life,’ published a poem for which her publisher paid her Ll2s—more money than Milton received for ‘ Paradise Lost.’ Woman may possess as much information £|B the average man, but it is not likely to be of a character that will help hep in journalism. Useful ft may be in (tq place, but opfsidp pf (he dftily newspaper offlcp. WOMAN SUFFRAGE AGAIN BAULKED, The Supreme Court of Washington Territory has given a decision declaring that tfie law giving the right of suffrage to wopien is unconstitutional and void. This law was passed in 1884, and the women of that Territory have been voting under it ever since. The ground taken by the Court is that toe title of the Act conflicts with the provisions of the organic law of the Territory. Thqa the law is overthrown, not upon its merits, but on a technical error in enactment* just as was the Prohibitory Constitutional Amendment in lowa a few years agp. Washington Territory has been pointed tp as the most favorable field for experiment with woman suffrage.' The result is that it promised more than it could fulfil. The strongest claim made for wonikn suffrage, and the one which' had the most weight with women themselves, was ! 'toe added strength that it would give to moral questions in politics. Prohibition was defeated in Washington Territory just as easily as though the women had not voted. The average woman is a unit with her husband in important matters. The only perceptible effect was the large increase in the volume of votes to be counted. Many of the women of Washington Territory are disappointed at the. decision of tire Court, but more are jubilant, ’* 11 '•

KANSAS 1 IKIES AIJ EXPERIMENT. The Kansas experiment with prohibition has been successful beyond the most sanguine expectation. The Kansas Legislature has this winter strengthened its statutes, enforcing the prohibition amendment at several weak points. It has taken another long stride in advance by passing a law giving women the right of municipal suffrage. I believe that it was expected that Governor Martin would veto the Bill, but he has approved of it. It is now the law of the State of Kansas, and goes in effect at once. Therefore, the women of Kansas will hereafter be able to vote at the city elections for mayors, councillors, and other city officials. The theory of the advocates of the Bill is that women will throw their influence and cast their votes on the side of law and order, and thus help to relieve the cities from the government of the criminal or lawless classes, who frequently hold the balance of power. Kansas has made the first experiment as a State upon this line. The opponents of the measure were the saloon and liquor interests, supplemented by the gamblers and licentious people generally. If it fulfils its promises to relieve the cities from the rum power, *nd banishes the vestiges of the saloon, the gambling shop, and the brothel, it will certainly be a great blessing. Ido not share In the confident belief that it will prove a panacea for all the ills of the cities. The danger lies in the fact that women of the better class will refrain from voting very largely, but that the women of the other class will poll their entire vote, and thus reinforce the most undesirable element.

. The Senate of New York by 20 to 9 passed a Bill giving to women the right of municipal suffrage. There seems to be a growing feeling all over the country in favor of this departure. A NEW POLITICAL PARTY. A notable gathering of people who found themselves unable to fill a place in the old political parties of the day was convened at Cincinnati, Ohio, the other day, and organised a new party of their own. About 350 of the 500 delegates at the convention were representatives of the old Greenback Party; but in their discussions and in their new platform they drop out and ignore all the notions about money, banking, and finance they prated about for years, which fact alone ■ shows how little gumption they have for telling people what should bo done as to politics and good government. If there were any considerable number of oranks in the country unrepresented at that Convention it was their own fault—they could have been. The platform which they adopted is, ,a. strange jumble of visionary and impracticable ideas,, with a few sensible suggestions 'thrown in. There is nothing new in, it, not evep the hunger for place and notoriety .that inspired th,e managers. , They have takeq down, at one gnlp Henry theory of .the unearned, increment. The new .party propose to have.the real estate-owners pay au the taxes; amount of those taxes shall be all tyat the land is worth above the original dost t that the Government shall own and work all the railway and telegraph lines ; a jbax unop afl incomes: that the Government shall pay to the. soldiers in , tfie Jafe jya? the difference h e< ween the .gold.andpaper value received by them .as wasps during thp war ; that women shall have,, the right of suffrage;. and, that the United States senators shall be eleqted, by a direct vote of the people. They come as near to the line of Socialism and anarchy as they dare without being amenable to the law. .The ,aew party assume to speak for the -laboring man, though the principal advocates do the moist of their work with their months instead of their hands. The.entire outfit.may be styled the party of political misfits; drifts wood from all parties. THE W.C.T.U. AND POLITICAL ACTION. Miss Frances E. Willard, the, brilliant and able president of the W.C.T.U., recently delivered an address in New York before an immense audience, and she -recounted, the wonderful progress made in tetpperance work since 1816. In that year the General Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church refused to pass,, a resolution forbidding its ministers to sell intoxicating liquors. Now the official utterances of that church on. the liquor question are most radical. The children of the country are being instructed in the public schools on the effect of alcohol on the human - system. Every year adds one or more States to the roll of prohibition. Every wmtej: notes ' some new advances made along the line of temperance legislation, ana the enforcement bt good tettperanqe Thoughtful 'people who have listened to.

temperance orators lately will have noticed that there are two methods of temperance speech-making now—one for temperance pure and simple, and one for political work with temperance as the “catspaw. lam glad to note that Miss Willard is getting back to first principles, and ceases to liedare that nothing can be done for temperance under existing circumstances, that the old parties cannot be trusted to make or enforce temperance laws, that it is impossible to manufacture temperance sentiment, and that therefore a Third Party is necessary. The two statements do not agree. The array of facts cited by Miss Willard, the glorious roll of temperance legislation of which she speaks in glowing terms, are conclusive proof that temperance work is progressing in a satisfactory manner, that the old method was the most fruitful and should not be interrupted, and that the temperance reform does not need a third political party. THE THIRD PARTY IN MICHIGAN. The Republican Legislature of Michigan has just passed a Bill to submit a prohibitory amendment to the State constitution to the people to be voted on in April. There will be a determined struggle, and the friends of prohibition will have no ammunition to throw away. The ‘ Voice,’ an assistant Democratic prohibition organ edited by Rev, J. L. Punk, of the Third Party, says of the coming struggle in Michigan : —“lt is to be a fight not on party lines but on nonpartisan lines, as it was in Rhode Island, in lowa, and in Kansas ; therefore, the Prohibition Party will not enter the held, because such action should jeopardise the amendment, and because the party was not organised for that kind of work. The beat and bravest leaders of the party will, however, be on the ground to give service as individuals.” What a confession of judgment. Dropping party livery at the en-trance-door of the State, when the white heat of actual conflict between the home and the saloon is the test, exposes all the sham and pretence and selfish interest lurking in the purpose to build up a political party at the expense of the best success of prohibition work. I am glad to note that so far as Miss Frances E. Willard is concerned she repudiates the Third Party policy, and proposes to lose no time in leading the hosts of the W.C.T.U. into the thickest of the fight. Her note to George R. Scott, of the 'New York Witness,’ speaHa for her i New York, February 10, 1887. Brother Scott.-There is just one watchword for this hour: "We must carry Michigan. The Constitutional Amendment now submitted to the people must not fail. Let us drop all other engagements and rally to the rescue. Let each one who can speak start at once for the scene of action, and give our time freely m this most sacred cause. If every speaker in our ranks would contribute ten days’work, letting all other engagements wait, I believe that God s Spirit going with our work would bring the victory. We have heroic men and women In aiiohigan—excellent organisation and admirable leadership. Let us go into this blessed battle shouting—“ The sword of the Lord, and of Gideon!’’—Yours, for “Michigan, our Michigan,” Frances E. Willard.

KANSAS REPUDIATES ST. JOHN. When John P. St. John was the Republican Governor of Kansas, when the Republican Party of the State submitted the prohibition amendment to the people, and carried it to a successful issue at the polls, Governor St. John was honored on every proper occasion and by every proper means. One of the largest and richest counties in the State w a ® named St. John in his honor. When St. John became a sore-head," because the people did not want him for GoverUP.r a third term, ho organised the Third Party, and rqn it in tbe interests of the Democratic Party at the expense of the Democratic treasury and under the pretence of temperance. The people of Kansas felt keenly the disgrace of his perlidy. They have burned him in effmy, and they refused to nominate him for Congress. J do not beljeve that he could get votes enough in his own home town to elect him a constable,. The Legislature of Kansas has just passed a Bill changing the name of St. John County to Logan, by a vote of 64 to 34. The Bill was signed by the Governor oh the day of its passage, and is now law. This action of tno Kansas Legislature is very significant, and made still more so by the fact that the same Legislature ' 'baa strengthened the laws making the prohibition amendment effective at every weak place, and now an open saloon pan Ijanjly be found anywhere in the Miotic.

ANOTHER RAILWAY HORROR. The most frightful railway accident that has occurred for years took place about two weeks since near White River Junction, Vermont. It was caused by a broken rail throwing several coaches from the track down an embankment upon the ice of a frozen river, where they took fire. The imprisoned victims were burned to death, the survivors being powerless to give relief. On this train there were a large number of excursionists going to the ice carnival at Montreal. About forty lives were lost, and a great many persons were badly injured. The American railways offer a fortune to the inventor who will devise a systein of heating the coaches without the possibility of roasting their patrons in case of accident, THE CANADIAN ELECTIONS. The Canadian elections have resulted in a victory for the Conservative Government under Sir John A. M‘Donald. The Conservatives have carried every province except Ontario and little Prince Edward Island, and have a working majority of from twenty-five to thirty. This result affords fresh proof that Sir John A. M‘Donald is by long odds the shrewdist politician that the Dominion has ever had. After the execution of Kiel, the North-west rebel, a year or more ago, it seemed as though that event would break the back of the Administration. Other events speedily followed, which lessened more and more, seemingly, the popularity of the Government. The commercial depression, the enormous growth of the debt of the Dominion, the secession agitation in the maritime provinces, serious scandals in several departments of Government, the fishery troubles with the United States, appeared to be too heavy a load to carry successfully through a campaign. The recent provincial elections showed large Liberal gains, and were accepted, generally, as presaging the Conservatives* defeat at the general elections. The causes which produced a directly opposite result are not clear yet at this distance; but the principal factor is doubtless the extraordinary skill and cleverness of Sir John A. M'Donald himself as a political manager. The Canadians are at present wedded to the “ National ” policy—a protective tariff; and no doubt the oiling of the machinery by its beneficiaries, and the fears of the working classes of competition with the ‘‘pauper labor” of the United States, contributed materially to the Tory triumph. The ‘ Toronto Globe ’ takes a very gloomy view of the situation, and has gone to some trouble to show the weight of the con-stantly-accumulating Dominion debt. The net debt is about LlO for every man, woman, and child in Dominion, and LSO fpr every family. Life is too short to verify many of the calculations referred to ; but there is enough to ,prove that Canadian statesmen have more important work before them than .stirring, up a quarrel with the United States about a kettle of fish.

I the UNITED states retaliation policy. ’ The sentiment of, the American people with reference to the. fishery trouble with Canada has been singularly unified,: and has found expression in the passage pf a Bill by a practically unanimous vote of both Houses pf Congress clothing the .President with authority to close every American port against Canadian vessels, and to deny the entrance of any Canadian product in this country by way of water whenever he shall be satisfied that American vessels are denied treaty rights in Canadian waters or are unjustly harassed in the exprcise of those rights. With the passage of this measure there are arrangements made providing for a large increase of tthe navy by the obstruction of vessels, of the most improved pattern, the manufacture of heavy guns and small arms, and. the immediate strengthening of our goastdefences. The President showed his sympathy with the measures by affixing his signatureto them within an hour after their P ThTneed not and does not mean war. Congress has adjourned, and will not meet untff December, but it has placed the country in a condition to take care of itself in the meantime. This leaves nine months for fermentation. ;If Canada repeats the outrages complained of somebody will to fight or run., , . ~ General Sir Fred, Middleton, commanding the forces in Canada, in an interview upon the situation, sayst —“There will be no war. This generation will never see war between' the two great English-speaking nations of the world, but the day may come when the combined efforts of Great Britain and the United States may be required to . protect themselves against the aggression of other countries. In fact, we cannot afford to fight for the amusement of those foreign

nations who jealously watch the great advancement the English speaking population of the world is making in the four quarters of the globe, and who would like nothing better than to see us at war destroying one another.”

Congress adjourned sine die at noon on March 4. It has been a busy session, but a great mass of unfinished work is laid over. Ulysses.