ARE WOMEN CIVILISED?

New Zealand Times, Volume XXVIII, Issue 5803, 22 January 1906, Page 2

ARE WOMEN CIVILISED?

AN IRISH PROTEST. (To the Editor “N.Z, Times.") Sor.—lt is wid mingled fay lings ov indignavtion an scorn that I sind thw leituie in ansur to “O’Mara’tj” durtr tvrade us jocr Who is li<*. onv wav. iho durty sptilpcon; he rail** tir» linns and dis hone rouble have ilndlliMs; !>•' dad if I could any lay rne bans on him I’d lave him vnd sich a muii on him that he wud want to Pthop in a cave ev«*r aft lie r fur fear ony ov the roc.alled deeitvars wud see him. Liure, indade. wusent Annanias as had an tin times woum* Ilian joor Sapphiru nnybow? Faith tn© Devil take yon '‘O’Mnra" fur writin sich a lettur. Not h. hajiorth of ship© tuvo I had hinre J rad ii. the ins and outs ov it will Alike, me husband, about yeoe. VouTo a to Ireland, iso you are; may all tho answers to your lettur kape you in a Fittii-iotba for weeks to come;* you ought to b© ashamed ov vurosili, you ought. VS hn.ro wud he if hadn't had a woman for a mother I'd like to know—can yces ansur nm that? Hurbariuns, too! i akod n fnnd ov mine pwhat tnat mint, an pli© said it wus tlie name fur wimmin barbars. Faith, “O'Alara," jisl drhop along to an I'il give yoew tho foineet clip yecA ever had in your born days. Now, Mr Iditoro, soor. I'll not tajid yus ony longer, but gost put thi littur in wane pay per and send it to that blaggnrd "O’Mara," because Mike re:ui« all the paypers an he wud bo sure to know xny han-writing, an then ther wtsd bo a hulabuloorth if ho thought X had dared to differ with that disgrace to the land ov me birth. O, that 1 thud live to eeo tho day svhin wane of me own countrymen shud disgrace himeolf in sich a way. Good buy. ditar Air Editor©, aai bless yees if yoe put this littur in "o'M.araV* may follow yew if yeeo put it in—but nivcr overtayke yces if yec« lave it out. —I am, etc., ' 'BRIDGET SIcSQUITTERICKS. January iSTTL

WOMAN'S RECORD. «To the Editor "N.Z. Times.") Sir, —You correspondent "Ouutr” has furnished ns with many important particulars respecting tho fair sox; but it is evident ho docs not place women on the samo level as men so far as relates to their adaptability to occupy public positions, or positions until recently Roue rally regarded as those which should be held exclusively by mon. We find, however, that women have succeeded in public positions. They have made both war and peace between nations. Queens have executed judgment and nietod out justice as impartially as kings. In literature both as poets and prose-writers they have not been far behind the sterner sox; there are few readers who have not been delighted by the pcrsual of many of their writings. In the works of liarbunW. More, Jameson, Cook. Price, etc., we find power and play of langnage, parity ot senHraent, and beauty of scholarship which have largely contribut od to please, enlighten, ami reform mankind. Catherine I, Empress of •Itiißnia, assisted Peter 1 to perform his onerous duties, and after his death succeeded him to the government of the Empire. It has been said that even Adam before he was possessed of Eve, wandered through paradise surveying the blissful scenes with mournful looks. It has also been argued that: — "If men would but follow what the sex advise, All things would prosper, all the world grow wise. ’Twas by Rebecca's aid that Jacob won Ills father’s blousing from an eider son; Abusive Naba! owed his forfeit life To the wise conduct of a prudent wife; Heroic Judith, as old Hebrews show, Preserved the Jews and slew the Assyrian foo; At Hester’s suit the persecuting sword Was sheathed and Israel lived to bless the lord." Ulysses escaped the dehth fo which he was doomed by the blood thirsty Polyphemus through the intervention of Minerva, the .goddess of wisdom. 'lT,ere was no want of civilisation in the nine daugT.ters of Juniter and Mnemosyne, Calliope. Clio, Erafo, Euterpe, MelpoTTsute Polyhymnia. Terpsichore. Thalia, amTTfrnnia, who. bom on Mount Picrius, w ,lr e mistresses of alt the sciences, presidents of musicians and poets and governe. sea of the feasts of the gods. Notwithstanding (lie ingenuity of reasoning and the ambitious display of learning whicb characterise the productions of your correspondent, it is devoutly to be wished that he win not call in question tho truth of these statements. Horace may discourse, his philosophy from his Sabine villa, Ucmostneries hurl his thnndering orations from the Bemn, but Venus, that coddens of love and beautv, smiles cn every knight and speaks to our evorv passion in a voice sweeter than music.—l am. etc., , . J. HEARD. January loth. WOMEN IN RUSSIA. (To tho Editor ”N.Z. Times") Sir.—l have thought it might he the wisest for women to leave severely alone the person ivho. under the fa ho name of " Omar." has made such a cowardly attack upon ns women. Ho considers we are not civilised. Men must bo very much so. seeing that when they quarrel, they hew each olher to pieces, by way of settling it. And if women do not understand polities at present; it is within my knowledge that neither d d men. when the franchise was first given to every male householder. Some of them, indeed, could not write their own names. And even now. some of them consider that a penny spent on a weekly paper, is an unnecessary extravagance; hut. to get drunk several times a week is no extravagance. There arc many women it is of the Old Country I speak who understand more about politics, though they have no vote, than some men who have. Male government, pure and simple, is "Omar’s” ideal. Well, lot ns, for instance. take Russia. What voice has woman had in the administration of Hint nation? She has been ruled hv the high-born, her nobles, tho educated; and look at her to-day! Females have not returned ’Vcnkinc«” to her Parliament. I suppose, that, if there were the ghost of a chance, in this cose, of shifting the blame on fo woman, it would he done. Adam began if in Eden, and he has had faithful followers ever since. The home, undoubtedly, is woman’s place. What true woman questions it r Anti she loves to make it a paradise for a suitable co-partner. Yet the public would suffer greatly, did she confine her beneficent work to that small circle. W’hut of the great nursing body, in our hospitals? But man, through hie neglect of duty, and alas! often cruelly, has driven her from the home. Thousands of women rue their marriage day; (he unmarried look on. and cry. oh 1 spare mo from such a fate. Then the need of working

for their Hvinsf comes to them; and they say wt* will do it. for we can; we shall be free and happy. The result is. that man docs not now find it to easy to earn his liv.ng. and it Jibs not improved his temper. Ho is not content with having driven her from her home, but he must need 3 turn and fond her at torwards. It, of course, u; her fault, n* per n«unl It is not necessary to co to quccus for nobility of life. I have lived ivi*h ladies of much lower rank. tine, in paniculur. stands out very clearly. Then* were many trying ciivumstances in her life—wrotehinl baaltli and a drunken husband included. Tho latter must have been bitter ind'“©d, to that pure spirit which seemed to breathe nn upper air. Yet, her patience in trying to r**claim that poor, miserable wreck of bnmanitv. seemed inexhaustible. 1 have stood iiiddc an«i inar%clleil often. it seemed so beyond tlie for mortal, ami when “she paftscd to where beyond these voice*; there is ]>c&ce," the only suitable gpiUiph 1 could think of, was "She ever moved among us in white armour." The other charges “Omar" brings against us, I shall leave his own s**x to deal with, men who have arhbved their highest good, because some vromun was the motive power. She is the greatost power in the world, if she oulj’ knew it. —I am. etc.. J.S.L. Fielding, Jan. 15th. TOO CIVILISED. (To the Editor “N.Z. Time?.") Sir,—A battle of the sexes sorms to he taking place in vour columns. the“ea«u6 belli" being apparently the hyjiercritioaJ Omarcsque vHiif-don. One might be led to suppo»-e that some of !»i«s (strictures (which may or may not be aptly qualified jus gallant or chivalrous) have brs»n sutficiently accurate to highly incense the fair victims of so comprehensive .an indictment. H is not so very long ago that the author of “Lovely Woman." found the inibjcct of hits ijatincal Ircnlii'© practically ruled out in a court of law, presumably a/> the canons of good taste. On the other hand, eon;© s*Mni-hysterical diatribes on "Cowuitl Adam" on the part of a well-known authoress have been received with amused tolerance, or. at most, phtyful irony, cm the jvjirt of tho critic*?. Woman is admittedly «*o groat and nccoßsary an institution that while wo men have so many inelegant, or ©von dioercditablo amcniticv>, we aro surely hardly justified in heaping obloquy on the delightful inconsistencies of the fair oncti, who, of their clemency, condone so much in u». The restraining ties of courtesy, and the consideration to which woman is by long and honourable usage entitled, mmrt needs bo broken or set aside before questions of this nature can ho raised. Whether the shrieking sisterhood and the women, who have, of choice, and not of necessity* encroached on callings from which one would have thought thojr natural delicacy and refinement would have withheld them, aro entitled to bO large a measure of consideration m another question; in such cases masculine approval is apt to be distinctly qualified (but even this is debatable ground). Perhaps tfas most one may do is to dcprecatingiy hint that some of them are getting a great deal too civilised. —I am, etc., "GUI BOND." Taibape, January 13th. ADVICE TO OLD BACHELORS. (To tho Editor “N.Z. Times/') Sir, This controversy about tho “fitness’' or "civilisation" of women in connection with the political franchise is to my mind nothing more nor loss limn what tho Italinm* humorously call “Do Lana Caprina." Nevcrtholocss. as an admirer of the fair box, I must protest against tho unchivalrous manner an which "lovely woman" has boon trailed through tho mire by bouio of your ungallant Much stress him been laid on what happened in the Garden of Edon, tho soigo of Troy, and elsewhere. But these aro things of tho past, and might bo appropriately buried in oblivion. Reviewing the correspondence on tho subject, tho Jodies might well entreat—“Be to our faults a little blind, But to our merits over kind." This would bo both charitable and chivalrous. But it is feared the days of chivalry are gone. To say nothing of the fact that war© it not for tho presence of woman wo should never b© placed on this mundane sphere, it is unnecessary to remind your readers that when "lovely woman stoops to conquer" she can annihilate the “genus homo" by her bewitching smiles. Bow, then, can she avoid exorciiiing a certain influence over her male companions at electioneering times, or on other occasions when tho heart of man is soothed by her charms? And, no donut., your poudents. ore right when they say that such influence to a largo extent swayed the rocmlt of tho last election. Still, X fail to bco why woman should bo blamed for that. 1 should rather blame tho weakness of tho opposite sex in being diverted from his proper course by the blandishments of Madumc Beauty, If tlio women nr© loft to work out their own (salvation with a little salutary advice from their so-called masculine com* peem. things will ultimately go right. Apart from the fact Hat great men in every age of the world’s history attribute their greatno*» to the genius, foresight, virtue, and indominlablo character# of iheir amiable and painstaking mot hero, there can bo no doubt that women often play a great, and, not infrequently, a heroic part in the social condition r.f mankind, and in the elevation of tho human nice.

It is, therefore, to be hoped that there is none so blind as not to recognise the humanising effects of the society of woman on the opposite wi. and it goes without saying that if all the old batclielors in this and other cities were to take more freely to the companionship of women, and, according to the orthodox fashion, to mutually help to “keep their cradles full." the community would bo eo much more benefitted by it than by wrangling over the ballotlbox. And I cannot help thinking that "Omar.” in his lonff Jotter to the "Times.” finding fanlt with women, was actuated solely by their attitude towards tho "no-li-censo" campaign in the late general election. Had they voted for prohibition and the turning out of tho Liberal (3overnment. as ho, no doubt, expected them to do. we should have heard nothing from tho philosophic "Omar." It is well, however, that he came out of his hiding-place, for the discuadou which his letters have given rise to must he productive of good irTs i in - -1 - ■ ... v riso to the occasion and oome out triumphantly ami uUsviuui.,,.;, .... ..... t, I am, etc., PONS ASINORUM. January J 1 th. WOMAN. TJTE CONSERVATIVE. (To tho Editor " N.Z. Time**.") Sir. —In this question of civiitaition or otherwise of woman, the real question wo ail know is. Hus woman justified her privilege of voting f If we look to any direct influence of woman we find the. unfruitful and non-progressive Prohibition question os the only unquestionable platform of woman in the mass. In Australia the women’s leagues are decidedly conservative, and it is 'he conMovtttivo who has led humanity. In dealing with masses, wo can only take tho average. It is of no use quoting individuals or comparing in: u -i'h prostitutes in abusive endeavours to raise one sex's qualifications at li e expense of the other. 1 think nil w’ l . admit that on the average men are bet- j ter fitted, practically, mentally, and Inheredity. to govern than women is. We must remember that !■■ i- tlu'-nce tends to specialise in sex even, ami that specialisation is the line of progress. Woman in any case mils 1 -o'"* • • ■ tuners of inaction, brought on by herself in manv instances, and cannot expect to take ns clear a view in po’.’ticing man. Hy the inclusion of women in our voting strength wo have lowered our average of governing ability, ami therefore retrogaded.—l am, etc.. “ WORKER.” Woodvillo. Jon. 14th.