THE TRUE INWARDNESS OF THE WOMAN'S MOVEMENT.

White Ribbon, Volume 13, Issue 163, 15 January 1909, Page 1

THE TRUE INWARDNESS OF THE WOMAN'S MOVEMENT.

(By Mr* M<*\>miis.

( Concluded.) I he call of nature has come, and women ar» responding in that great union of ftisterhood founded on tin* wide, deep sympathy of women for each other, until we cannot fail to notice the change that is come. Human progress lies in the perfecting of tin* Social organisation, and it is here that the changes of our day are most marked. In earlier times man felt injury only when it affected his own body, and later his family or his nation; to-day there is a growing sensitiveness to social injuries, even to other nations. The brotheihood of man a fact in the universe that is gradually taking hold of the minds of men, biing ing that feeling of oneness which makes us instantly responsive throughout the civilised world to the call of humanity, irrespective of class or creed. An outrage in the remotest Balkans brings a thrill of sympathetic indignation to every heart. This grow th of brotherhood and feeling of solidarity amongst mankind has its reflex and counterpart in the bond of union that hinds all women to each other in their upward striving. Social Sympathy and thought are growing more intense and active every day, and though hut half a century has passed since women first began to identify themselves with

social interests, the whole attitude of tin* world towards them has changed. 1 lie story of Susan B. Anthony’s speech, told in her own words, will give an illustration of tin* attitude of the worid towmds women fifty years ago: — “ A state teachers’ convention was held “in my city of Rochester. Over one “thousand women were assembled there, “and perhaps two hundred men. I p to “ that time no woman’s voice had been “ heard in convention. Those men ap- “ pointed a committee to prepare resolutions, and one of these declared that a “teacher’s profession was higher than “ that of a minister, lawyer, or doctor, “and yet all these are treated with the “greatest respect, invited into the best “families, often elected to high offices, “ whereas schoolmasters are treated “slightingly, are often called .Miss “ Nancies and old grandmothers. I k listened with a great deal of interest, “\nd at length—having been born and “reared a Quaker, and taught that < Jod “ inspired a woman to speak just as well “as a\nmn—l rose in my seat and said : “ ‘ Mr\President ’ The President “stepped .0 the front of the platform “and said: ‘ What will the lady have?’ “The idea\had never entered that man’s “ cranium mat a woman could rise in “ her seat ami address the chair just like “a uian ! AiVl I said : ‘Mr President “ and gentlemeV I would like to say a “ word on the subject under discussion.’ “‘Then,’ said Urn President, ‘what is “ the pleasure of tIV Convention ! ’ and j

“ he looked down to the little handful of “ n en in the front seats, never casting a “furtive glance to the thoustml women “crowding that hall. One man moved “that the lady should be heard, and they “discussed the question for half an iiour. “ At last, by a small majority it was de- “ cided that the lady should In* heard, “and I managed to say : ‘ Mr President “and gentlemen, I have listened to your “discussion with interest, but it seems “to me that none of you quite comp re- “ bend the cause of the disrespect of “ w hich you complain. Oo you not see “ that so long as Society says a woman “ has not brains enough to be a minister, “a lawyer, or a doctor, every man of “you who teaches school practically ac- “ knowledges that he has no more brains “ than a woman ? and sat down. As I “ passed out of that hall at the close of “ the session, I heard many a woman “ whispering to another * Who is that “creature!’ They were quite honest, “ they really believed it was degrading “to a woman to spt*ak. The next morn- “ ing the President said : ‘ I have been “asked why women are not put on com- “ mittees, why they are not invited to “prepare reports, and so on. Then he “continued: * Look at this magnificent “hall, at the l>eauty of the entablature, “ the symmetry of the shaft, and the “ strength of the pedestal. Could I he “ instrumental in dragging from its proud “ elevation that beautiful entablature and “ rolling it in the dirt and dust that sur- “ round that pedestal ! So, Heaven for* “bid !’ And he was really sincere, and

“ really lndieyed that if a woman stoo<l “ in an audience and spoke, she would be “ degraded to the level of a man.” The younger women who have been born to this new age can scarcely realise what the weight of responsibility has meant to those who have gone before In the more advanced countries there is hardly a woman of intelligence to-day who is not taking an active part in some social interest. < b»e of the most important sociological Ph enomena of our history is to be found in the womans dub movement, which marks the first steps towards definite social organisation of those long uti socialised members of our race. It is a fact that social life is absolutely conditioned upon organisation, tin* industrial organisations which maintain life, the military organisations which are supposed to promote peace, the educational, ieligious, and charitable. The only form of organisation open to women was for long the celibate religious community, and tin* fondness of women for the Church has been based partly on the force of human longing fn» coordinate interest and activity. A* the Church widened its activities it has found in women its most Valuable and Pager Workers, for the\ could labour together for other interests, and other needs than those of the family relation. I'he rise and spread of that greatest of women's organisations —the Women's Christian Temperance Union has proved how ready is file heart of woman to answer tin* demands of othei than the personal relations The sense of human unity i* growing daily among women, it is impossible for us not to see this great new growth, nor can we fail to watch with deepening interest and admiration the splendid spirit of heroism it is encouraging amongst women. The spirit of those women who have battled and suffered for the last half century, with sacrifices never to be told, forcing their wav into the held of activities so long denied them. Hut thanks to the magnificent effort of such women practically every door now stands

open, and the racial activities of woman I are free to develop as rapidly as they may. I'he main struggle now is with the m woman herseif, for there still remains to us the poor weak nature of the creature, w ith the heavy legacy of tie* years behind, a heritage of narrowness, ignorance, and idolatry. The innumerable weak and little-minded women, with the aspirations of an affectionate guinea-pig These are tin* women now to be dealt w ith—women whose distorted minds seek to spend their whole free lives on self gratification, and who fear to raise their eyes to the light lest knowledge should scatter their self complacent ignorance. The woman's movement, as I have already stated, is a social issue —not altogether a revolt against injustice—a concerted movement based on recognition of a common evil, aud seeking a common good : and as the result of this movement women in the most advanced races to-day are standing free. In one country or ; another practically every path of activity is open to women, and in every country there are many professions and industries free to them. I‘efore concluding. I would say that I have tried to bring into this paper the inner spirit of the movement., to show that the emancipation of woman has come in the natural course of things, to emphasise most of all the fact that it lias come, and that women instead of merely seeking for notoriety as they are sometimes accused of doing are simply responding to the insistent call of nature. It d«M*s not in the least matter to us how they are responding, whether in the more enlightened countries they are exercising the rights and privileges they now possess, or whether in lands less advanced they are battling for these rights They are merely Answering the Call of Nature. for her great purposes. I'liose w ho object to women s working on th** ground that they should not compete w ith men or U* forced to struggle for existence, look only at work as a means of earning money. They should remember tint human labour is an exercise of

faculty without which we should cease to be human, that to do and make not only gives deep pleasure, hut is indispensable to healthy growth. Il»is is tin* ideal for which women are striving to bring the sisterhood ami brotherhood into line, so that both the streams through which heredity Hows shall be pure and unobstructed, and that each half of mankind shall he developed to the fullest. Otherwise each succeeding generation can be at birth hut a compromise and therefore undeveloped. History records the rise ami fall of empires, but in tie* annals of social revolution, war, and empire building, there is nothing to e*pia! in magnitude and importance this womans movement. When the father and mother of the race art* free and eouel we shall have a better world by right of birth, and hy the calm, slow, fiiendly forces of social revolution.