"SUBJECTION OF WOMAN."

New Zealand Herald, Volume VIII, Issue 2350, 7 August 1871, Page 3

"SUBJECTION OF WOMAN."

To the Editor of the Herald. Sin, —Having read with some interest the different letters on the "Subjection of Woman" which havo appeared in tho Hek vld during the last few days, I venture to oiler some observations thereon. In tho first pla-e, I would ask " Polly Plum," —docs she mean that legal power over children should bo possessed by both parents in an equal degree ? If this be what 6he means, and sho certainly seems to imply as much, in a case wherein papa and inauimu honestly differed in their views with regard to their children's welfare, whose decision does " Polly Plum" say should bo final ? If, on grounds of politeness, papa always gave way to mamma, that would at once practically destroy their equality of power. Oil the other hand, if papa were always allowed his own way, as being a better judge in such matters, tho law might as well be left in its present state. " Polly Plum" may say that the wife might succeed in convincing her husband of tho greater wisdom of hor opinion ; but surely this sho can do now just as well, for I fear tho weight of her legal authority would not much increase the weight of her arguments to her husband's mind. Therefore, sine# to come to any result as far as the poor children are concerned, tho much coveted balance of power must be destroyed, it only remains to decide into which of the two matrimonial scales it is best to throw tho plus quantity of legal authority. Of courso in a case in which either parent -v-i*, fron drunkenness or any othor cause, piu t ,_bly unfit to exercise his or her authority, it should bo taken away, tho said unfitness having been duly proved in a court of law, or any other institution " Polly Plum" may suggest of equally indisputable impartiality. But, sir, it appears to me that " Polly Plum" and many of her fair sisters liavo mistaken wherein a woman's true and most effective power lies. Let women bo educated to tho utmost j widen their minds by every possible means—(Heaven knows how greatly most of them require it);—but let this be done, not that they may be enabled to do the work of men, but that they m*y bo able effectively to do the work which U-od has given to them exclusively. A woman's great, natural, and, I confess, tome, obvious work in this world consists in influencing, not iu acting, "Polly Plum" may consider this a paltry sphere of usefulness, unworthy a clever woman's intellect. She may call m.re influence too indirect a power to be worth exercising. But does the fact of a cause boing tho iudircct instrument of an effect alter its utility—its absolute indispensableness so far as tho production of tho effect is concerned ? A bird's direct instrument of flight is its wings, but were it placcd in a vacuum it could not fly one yard, though it flapped those wings to" dislocation. One might multiply illustrations ad infinitum, but the ouo I have given will sullioc to show how unreasonable it is to attach different values to forces equally indispensable to tho production of a certain result. With reference to mothers and children, I say — Edueute women that thev may be like tho good ground, in which, seed being sown, it " brings forth fruit, some thirty fold, sjme sixty, and some an hundred." Ho.v soon tho breadth of mind of an ordinarily ia-

telligent boy stretches beyond that of an illeducated mother most of us must have observed. In this case the seed of his young mind has been cast on stony ground, where it had not much earth, and so withered away. Let the soil of a woman's mind be deepened and strengthonod; let is not wear itself out producing useless weeds; but let it devote its wholo energies to rearing trees, which shall iu time become monarehs of the forest, and tho admiration of all nations. In conclusion, let me state that X do not in the least underrate women's intellectual power; on the contrary, I thiuk they might make of it much more than they do, even with their present partially unfavourable opportunities. Tho ycmcl of a woman's mind possesses admirable sailing powers, but not sufficient ballast to be safo in a storm without a firm hand at the helm. Apologising for troubling you, I am, &c. F.A.ET. August 3, IS7I.