xt70rx937t9n_501 https://exploreuk.uky.edu/dips/xt70rx937t9n/data/mets.xml https://exploreuk.uky.edu/dips/xt70rx937t9n/data/46m4.dao.xml unknown 13.63 Cubic Feet 34 boxes, 2 folders, 3 items In safe - drawer 3 archival material 46m4 English University of Kentucky The physical rights to the materials in this collection are held by the University of Kentucky Special Collections Research Center.  Contact the Special Collections Research Center for information regarding rights and use of this collection. Laura Clay papers Temperance. Women -- Political activity -- Kentucky. Women's rights -- Kentucky. Women's rights -- United States -- History. Women -- Suffrage -- Kentucky. Women -- Suffrage -- United States. Woman's Tribune text Woman's Tribune 2020 https://exploreuk.uky.edu/dips/xt70rx937t9n/data/46m4/Box_30/Folder_35/Multipage21560.pdf 1907 October 1907 1907 October section false xt70rx937t9n_501 xt70rx937t9n .A'L

' The Woman’s Tribu

 

 

“EQUALITY

BEFORE THE LAW.”

 

 

VOL. XXIV No. 17,

PORTLAND, OREGON ;

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 5. 1907.

 

 

For the Woman’s Tribune.
I AM A SOUL.

I am a soul;
The mighty surge of God’s eternal Right
Makes melody within.
1 am a vital, climbing vine.
Twined ’i'ound the stately trunk of life.
1" am a thought—direct from that

Source »

\Vherein breathes Action.
0 wondrous truth, so rarely liere discerned!
O mellow medicine for mortal ills!
Renew, each day. this mending fact,
And I shall die no more,
Except to error and unrest;
I shall be keyed for conquest
Of all lower forms and states.‘
And thus may brace my fellows,
As We wander towards the sunlit New.

. e—Rev. H. S. Genevra. Lake.

SONNET.

0 Earth! Thou hast not any wind that blows
That is not music. Every weedcf thine,
Pressed rightly. flows in aromatic Wine;

And every little hedgerow flOWer that grows

And every little brown bird that doth Sing.
Has something greater than itself, and

bears _ _ .

Al living word to every living thing,

Albeit it holds the message unawares.

All shapes and sounds have something that
is not

Of them. A spirit broods amid the grass;

Vague outlines of the Everlasting Thought

Lie in the melting Shadows as they pass;
The touch of an Eternal Presence thrills
The fringes of the sunset and the hills.

—-Richard Realf.

It is ‘encouraging to note that the
duties of fathers are beginning to be
written about. at least in Germany. The
Berlin Deutsche Monatsschrift main-
tains that the modern man is a poor
father because he is not able to satisfy
his child‘s desire for information. It is
urged that the father should devote his

leisure in acquiring the technical knowl- -

edge which would enable him to explain
to the child the phenomena of modern
life. He should be able to impart in—
formation about the myriad things that
meet the children's gaze. lt says: ‘Ah,
did you but know the joy it affords!
You can give your children something
better th-aii.yoiir gold. yourselves, pro-
vided you renew and increase your
knowledge. And if it be too late for
that, see to it that your sons receive a
better training for fathers than was
vouchsafed to you. and this by having
them taught above all about the things
that lie nearest to them.” This is good
advice for the mothers, too, and their
higher education will find its fullest
justification if they should be. able to
put it to no other use. in making them
capable of understanding and teaching
to their children the wonders of nature
as illustrated in familiar objects all

around us.

______._.._.._——-

“The Immigrant Woman" is the sub—
ject of an article in the current Atlan-
tic by Frances E. Keller, a well~known
worker in sociological fields. It is stated
that in the year ending June 30. 1005,
2501.585 immigrant women came to this
country, nearly half the number of
men. Miss Keller says it is a mistake
to attempt to understand or solve_the
social, industrial and moral questions
arising from immigration without con-
sidering the women. Yet this is exactly
what was done in the recent three—day
conference of the National Civic Feder—
ation where “the whole question" was
discussed without any mention of wom-
en. Miss Keller shows that immigrant
women have no advantage in laws or
trade over men. and ”are at a disad-
vantage politically.” The writer might
have further emphasized the political
disadvantage by showing that one of
the fundamental causes of industrial
problems. both with foreign and native,
lies in the fact that part of the body of
workers is disfranchised~ and as a corol—
lary of this wages are based on sex and
not on work accomplished.

Judge Lindsey, of Denver. writes that
the corruption in Colorado politics is
not due to the voting of women. “On
the contrary." he says, “while many bad
men have been elected in spite of wom—
an suffrage .they have not been elected
because of woman suffrage. If the
women alone had a vote it would result
in a class of men in public office whose
character for morality. honesty and
courage would be of a much higher or-
der. Ninety—nine per cent of our elec-
tion frauds were committed by men,
without any assistance, direct or indi—
rect, from women."

The next dreadful thing to a battle lost
is a battle won—Wellington.

Great

FIVE CENTS A COPY

 

Clarina Howard Nichols.

 

CLARINiA I. HOWARD NICHOLS.
By Clara Bewick Colby.
Destiny Knitters.

One of the most striking figures in
fiction is Citizeness D‘efarge, who sat by
the dread French tribunal working into
her knitting the names of those who
were to be victims of the guillotine. At
the other end of the scale of human
character, serene where the Citizeness
violent, benign where she was
bloodthirsty, constructive where she
was destructive, at a later day sat an—
other woman with her knitting iii an-
other history—making tribunal working
into her stitches the rights of women.
To Clarina J. Howard Nichols the wom-
en of Kansas owe property rights.
equal guardianship of their children, and
school suffrage. or, at least. that these
were woven into the fabric of organic
law at the very beginning and did not
have to be worked for and gained by
the slow process of amending the laws.
as in other States. Mrs. Nichols did
much for the Woman Suffrage move-
ment in its early days and was the
leader in awakening thought along this
line in three other States. Vermont, VVis—
cousin and California, but her appeals
to the Constitutional Convention of
Kansas and her sitting calmly down
among them with her knitting, that her
presence might hold to their promises
the slippery politicians, left the most
lasting impress upon legislation and is
what she will always be remembered by.

uan
n “.4

Better Laws for Women.

Clarina 1. Howard was born in Town—
shend. Windham County, Vermont, Jan.
25 1810. We know nothing of her an—
cestry, of her childhood, or of her mar-
riage with Mr. Carpenter. which left
her with two sons. She first appears in
woman suffrage history in 1843 as the
editor of the Windham County Demo—
crat. which was published by her hus—
bands. Geo. W‘. Nichols, at Brattleboro.
and it was in this capacity, which she
filled until 1853, that she was able to
call public attention to the legal dis—
abilities under which women rested and
to secure favorable legislation in their
behalf. At this time married women
were without any legal existence in Ver—
mont, as elsewhere. They could not
hold property they might earn or iii—
herit, and if widowed they could only
inherit half the husband’s property,
however small it might be. If there
were no kinder of the husband to in—
herit the other half. it went into the
State treasury. even though this dis—
posal of it might make the widow a
public charge. A case occurred among
the subscribers to the Democrat where
a man left an estate worth $500. It was
divided and the widow. who was in the
decline of life and feeble. got only $250.
Mrs_ Nichols wrote up the case and set
forth this injustice to women in her
paper and sent marked copies to the

members of the Legislature—elect.
Moved by her presentation of the case,
Mr. Larkin Mead, of Brattleboro. intro—
duced in the Legislature of 1849 a bill
to give married women property rights.
The bill as passed secured to the wife
the estate owned by her at marriage
and any acquired thereafter; still she
could 11,03: sell or convey her property
without‘the joint signature of her hus—
band. \I' [If .850 the law was amended so
that acl’iildless widow was heir to the
whofc of'*i-”.':c husband's estate if it did.
not exceed $1,000, and half of the
amount in excess of $1.000. If there was
no kin the whole estate became the
property of the widow.

In 1849 Mrs. Nichols began to trend
in her editorials towards woman suf—
frage, introducing the dreaded subject
to her patrons under the plea that man
had failed to give disfranchiscd woman
her legal rights; therefore she must look
to the ballot for self—protection. The
news of her bold claim had reached
those who were moving for the National
COIivention at Worcester. Mass, in 1850.
and she received an invitation to be one
of the speakers on this occasion. She
was placed on the Central and Educa—
tional Committees appointed by the
Convention.

'Husband Owns Wife’s Clothing.

In 1852 Mrs. Nichols made the first
move for school suffrage for women,
drawing up a petition and Securing more
than 200 signatures of the leading busi—
ness men of Brattleboro asking the Leg—
islature to make women voters at dis-
trict school meetings. The petition was
referred to the Educational Committee,
whose chairman was the editor of the
Rutland Herald. who was known to be a
bitter opponent of the rights of women.
Fearing lest his report would be so
abusive that it would scare away sup-
port the measure might otherwise have,
Mrs. Nichols wrote to Judge Thompson,
editor of the Green Mountain Freeman,
asking him to plead with prominent
members to protect woman's cause from
abuse before the House. The Judge
consulted with leading members of all
parties and the result was a resolution
was introduced in the House inviting
Mrs. Nichols to address the Legislature
on behalf of the petition. The vote was
unanimous, the opposing chairman of
the Educational Committee saying: “If
the lady wants to make herself ridicu-
lous. let her come and make herself as
ridiculous as‘possible, and as soon as
possible." He also advertised in his
paper. the Herald. that he would present
Mrs. Nichols with a suit of male attire
at the close of her address.

It was a novel and difficult position
for a sensitive woman to fill. being
doubtless the first speech made by a
woman before a legislative body. Mrs.
Nichols’ heart beat 50- wildly that after
her first brief preface her voice failed
her and she leaned her head on her

hand. There was a moment of painful
suspense until she rallied, but her voice
remained tremulous throughout her dis-
course. This rather won for her the
sympathy of the members. and even the
dreaded opponent said editorially that
in spite of her efforts Mrs. Nichols could
not unsex herself; even her voice was
full of womanly pathos. We are left to
infer that he would have considered her
as no longer a woman if her voice had
not faltered. Mrs. Nichols in the course
of [her address cited the statutes and
deCisious of the courts to show that the
husband owned even the wife’s cloth—
ing. In conclusion she referred to the
threat of the opponent and said that al—

_ though she had earned the dress she had

on. her husband owned it—not by his
own Will but by a law made by bachel-
ors and other women's husbands. She
added: “I will not appeal to the gal—
lantry. of this House. but to its manli-
ness, if such a taunt does not come with
2111.111 grace from gentlemen who have
legislated our skirts into their posses—
sion and will it not be quite time for
them to taunt us with being after their
wardrobe when they shall have restored
to us the legal right to our own.” This
last hit brought forth a storm of ap—
plauSe and Mrs. Nichols was warmly
applauded as she left the Speaker’s
desk. Nothing was seen of the suit of
male attire. On the contrary, the editor
of the Herald “caught it” in the House
and out.

The report was adverse but respect—
ful, and left the way open for later ef—
fort, while the favorable impression cre-
ated among the women whose presence
there had been personally solicited by
Judge Thompson was regarded as a
great triumph for Woman’s Rights.

Prophecies for Miss Anthony.

This was at the time when Miss An—
thony was just beginning her public
work. She had gone to Albany as dele-
gate from Rochester to a meeting of
the Sons of Temperance. an order com-
posed of both sexes, and, desiring to
speak to a motion, she had been told
that the sisters were not invited there
to speak but to listen. and learn, Miss
Anthony and some others left the room
and carried with them a letter sent by
Mrs. Nichols to be read at the meeting
and it was read at the women’s meeting
which they proceeded to organize. to
the great detriment of the attendance
upon the gathering they had left. Later
the women decided to have a State
Temperance Convention of their own.
learning which Mrs. Nichols wrote to
Miss Anthony a letter of encourage-
ment which proved to be prophetic. She
wrote: “It is most invigorating to watch
the development of a woman in the work
for humanity; first anxious for the cause
and depressed with a sense of her own
inability; partial success of timid efforts
creating a hope; next a faith. and then
the fruition of complete self-devotion.
Such will be your history.”

In the autumn of 1852 Mrs. Nichols
and Miss Anthony met at the Syracuse
Convention. ' Miss Anthony learned
greatly to rely on Mrs. Nichols and re-
garded her as “one of her nearest and
dearest friends; a forceful speaker and
writer, and a tender and loving woman.”
At this convention the question of di-,
vorce came up and Mrs. Nichols. who
was well posted on the laws which re—
lated to women. called attention to the
injustice of the man being allowed by
the law to keep all the property in case
of divorce. Even though the divorce
was given to the woman by reason of
her husband’s wrong—doing, still she for—
feited all right to the property they had
jointly earned. Mrs. Nichols took the
ground, as she explained fully in a letter
to the Temperance Convention the fol—
lowing year, that drunkenness should be
a ground for separation but not divorce,
because drunkenness. she maintained.
could be and should be legislated out of
existence and therefore should not be
allowed to break up homes permanent—
ly. This question of divorce came up
constantly at both temperance and suf—
frage meetings. so fearful was wo-
men’s condition felt to be when she was
irrevocably held in marriage no matter
how much she might be abused or neg—
lectcd.

Sufl‘rage Speeches and Debates.

For four years Mrs. Nichols attended
not only the National Conventions but

(Continued on third page.)

 

 

 

 66

THE WOMAN’S TRIBUNE, OCTOBER 5.

 

 

 

 

 

WOMAN’S TRIBUNE

EDITED AND PUBLISHED BY

CLARA BEWICK COLBY.

 

 

[Entered as second class matter at the
Post Office at Portland, Oregon, under the
Act of Congress of March 3, 1879]

 

 

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The Woman’s Journal criticizes the
statment of The Woman’s Tribune that
Mrs. D’avis called the first National
Convention at Worcester, and did the
work of getting it up. The Journal says:
“Most of the work was done by Lucy
Stone, and it was she who headed the
call for the convention.” The Woman’s
Tribune is not seeking to belittle the
work of Lucy Stone any more than of
Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B.
Anthony. These three hold a unique
place in the history of the Woman Suf-
frage movement and they are secure in
their honors. The work of all has been
fully memorialized heretofore in the
Woman’s Tribune and the life of Lucy
Stone is about to be written. That of
Miss Anthony has been fully set forth
in two volumes, and the Reminiscences
of Mrs. Stanton supply the natural de—
sire to know something of this great
leader and mother of the movement.
The Tribune is hoping to make this gen~
eration a little acquainted with some of
the co-wo-rkers of these prominent lead—
ers, without whom they could not have
done the work they did. Not one could
have been spared, and where many are
entitled to our love and loyal gratitude
it is surely more helpful to us than if
the movement had been originated, sus—
tained and copyrighted by a few. In
saying that “one did the work and that
one was Mrs. Davis,” The Tribune
quoted from the first volume of the His—
tory of Woman Suffrage, page 216.
There was a little meeting of nine which
appointed a committee of seven, of
which Paulina Wright Davis was chair—
man. The History says: “However, the
work soon devolved upon one person.
Illness hindered one, duty to a brother
another, duty to the slave a third. pro-
fessional engagements a fourth, the fear
of bringing the gray hairs of a father
to the grave prevented another from
serving; but the pledge was made and
could not be withdrawn.” A foot-note
to the word “person” says: “Mrs. Davis
herself.” Certain it is that Mrs. D‘avis
wrote the letters to all the distinguished
persons whom she could reach. and that
while she had many reproachful, curt
and insulting refusals, she secured the
names of 85 persons to the call for the
convention. They were arranged by
States and Lucy Stone’s name headed
the 33 from her State. The very prom-
inence of her name indicates that she did
not arrange the call. Sarah H. Earle
called the meeting to order. Mrs. Davis
was elected president of the Conven-
tion and Chairman of the Central Com—
mittee, in which capacity she called the
second National Convention in Worces—
ter. The History says: “The large num-
ber of letters addressed to Mrs. DaVis
show how extensive had been her cor—
respondence both] in the Old World and
the New.” Mrs. DaVis was again
elected president. Just exactly what
each one did. when all were of one mind
to do whatever they could to further
the cause, is a matter of small moment,
but the writer does not like to rest
under the imputation of having done in-
justice to Lucy Stone; hence shows the
authority for the statement made.

The very ably conducted department
in the Atlanta Journal, “Our House—
hold,” edited by Miss L. 0. Thomas. is
open to contributions on Woman Suf—
frage. In a recent number George Mar—
tin takes strong ground for it. He said
that England had no right to tax Amer-
icans without giving them representa-
tion, and we have no right to tax women
without their being represented at the
ballot box. We thought we should be
hearing some brotherly v01ce down
there demanding justice for women.

I

Order the Perfection Bust Support
from the office of the Woman’s Tribune.
The only thing for summer wear; cool,
cleanly and comfortable. Once tried the
wearer will use no other. Notice instruc-
tions when ordering.

, “THE MYSTICSAL MARRIAGE.”

The A'ugust Open Court has as a
frontispiece .a reproduction of the cele—
brated painting of Corregio, “The Mys-

tical Marriage of Saint Catherine.” This

was a favorite topic with artists of the
fifteenth and earlier centuries and there
are several reproductions of their paint—
ings in the article by the editor, entitled
“The Bride of Christ.”

This conception of the marriage of the
Saviour is an ancient one. as Mr. Carus
shows, common in the case of the pagan
gods, and the comparing the kingdom
of heaven to a marriage, speaking of
the Church as “the Bride of Christ;”
and, as St. John repeatedly does, of the
marriage of the Lamb, are taken by the
editor to show the influences of Baby—
lonian traditions upon the formation of
religious ideas in Judea, so closely may
the parallel be drawn between these
ideas and the traditions pertaining to
the Babylonian Savior, Marduk.

Interesting as this discussion is,
there is, however, another portion of
Mr. Carus" paper which is of moment to
the movement to obtain for women the
restoration of their rights. The query
of mediaeval darkness as to whether
woman had a soul, had scarcely been
answered in the affirmative when the
woman’s rights movement began. Wom—
an was still regarded as described
the prayer of St, Chrysostrom as a “nec-9
essary evil, a natural temptation, a de-
sirable calamity, a domestic peril, a
deadly fascination, and a painted ill.”
As late as 1876, when a Presbyterian
minister, D‘r. See, admitted two women
to his pulpit to speak on temperance, he
was tried before the Presbytery of
Newark, the Synod of New Jersey, and
finally the General Presbyterian Assem—
bly; his prosecutor, Dr. Craven. declar—
ing him to have been guilty of “an in-
decency iii the sight of Jehovah.” His
whole four-hours’ argument was based
on the Bible doctrine of woman's Di-
vinely—intended subordination. None but
those who have been at least a quarter
of a century in the \Noman Suffrage
movement can realize how fierce and
relentless were the theological whips
laid upon woman in every step of her
forward way, and how heavy and strong
were the dogmatic chains from which
she had to free herself.

It was perhaps Sojourner Truth who
dared first in a suffrage convention to
defend her sex from the attacks of the
ministers. They were present in full
force at the Akron convention in 1851
to contest the women's claim to equality
because of the sin of one first mother,
the manhood of Christ and the Bible
teaching that woman should be in sub—
jection, etc. Pointing her finger at the
principal disputant, the tall. black Sibyl
said: “Vi/liar did your Christ come
from? From God and a woman! Man
had nothing to do with Him.” The ef-
fect this had in restoring the courage of
the women in the convention is said to
have been indescribable. >

As men became more liberal and wom-
en began to look into Bibles and re-
ligions for themselves, it was seen that
the doctrine of the subordinate place of
the female in creation was not only
unsupported by science but was anti-
scriptural and irreligious. This was Mrs,
Stanton’s thought in publishing “The
Woman’s Bible." To such scholarly
women as Mrs. Swiney we owe those
researches which have proven that the
exaltation of the feminine is a part of
all religions of all races and times in
their pristine purity, and that its sub—
ordination has been a later priestly in—
vention. A great service was indirectly
performed for the woman movement
when the last revision of the Bible was
made and the learned translators were
forced to change some passages relat—
ing to women.

All of this is brought to mind by Mr.

Carus’ paper in The Open Court, a quo-
tation from which brings ancient writ-
ings to support our position. Referring
to the personification of \Visdom as
Sophia in the scripture called “The Wis-
dom of Solomon,” Chapters VII and
VIII show that this Sophia had the
place which the Holy Ghost has in
Christianity. thus: “For Wisdom is
more moving than any motion; she
passeth and goeth through all things by
reason of her pureness. . . . And. being
but one, she can do all things: and re—
maining in herself. she maketh all
things new; and in all ages entering into
holy souls, she maketh them friends of
God. and prophets. For God loveth none
but him that dwelleth with Wisdom.
, . . Wisdom searcheth from one end to
another mightily; and sweetly doth she
order all things. . . . In that she is con—
versant with God, she magnifieth her
nobility: yea. the Lord of all things
Himself loved her. For she is privy to
the mysteries of the knowledge of God,
and a lover of His Works.”

Continuing. Mr. Carus says: “Sophia
retains this place which she holds in the
Old Testament Apocrypha with the

in'

Gnostics,=and as we know from a frag-
ment of the .Gospel According to the
Hebrews, the Holy Ghost is regarded as
the wife of God the Father. for there
Jesus uses the expression, “My Mother
the Holy GhOst,” as quoted by Epiphan-
ms.

“The idea of a trinity as God—father,
mother and son—faded away quickly
during the early development of Chris-
tian dogma, and it seems that the re-
placement of the word ‘logos' for
‘Sophia’ helped to obliterate the idea
that the second'person of the Diety was
female. The change was also favored
by the fact that while ‘ruah,’ the Hebrew
term for spirit, is feminine, the Greek
term, ‘pneuma,’ is neuter.

“The craving for a religious reverence
of womanhood remained even in the
age of asceticism and found its satis—
faction in,the worship of the Theotok-
tos, the _Mother of God. which is a lit—
eral translation of ancient pagan terms,
eSpecially the Egyptian ‘neter mut.’ but
in addition the idea of the Saviours
bride, though considerably neglected,
was never entirely forgotten. In the
imagination of the people, though rarely
ever of the clergy, it remained in a hazy
atmosphere of mysticism and finally
took a definite shape toward the tenth
century by imputing to Jesus a mystical
bride who was called Catharine, the
‘pure one,’ to indicate that she was an
ideal of virginity. The notion of any
true wedlock relation was necessarily
excluded according to the prevalent as-
ceticism of church doctrines and so in
this fairy tale atmosphere the legend of
a spiritual marriage of Christ assumed
a more and more definite shape.”

WOMAN SUFFRAGE NOTES.

The South Dakota annual Suffrage
Convention was held in the House of
Representatives, Pierre, September 17
and 18. It is reported to have been an
interesting and profitable meeting. Miss
Laura Gregg gave a logical and impres-
sive address on the second evening. The
following officers were elected: Presi-
dent, Alice M. A. Pickler. of Faulkton;
Vice President. Philena Everett John—
son, of Highmore: Secretary. Rose
Bower. of Rapid City: Corresponding
Secretary. Florence Jeffries. of Fort
Pierre: Treasurer, Mrs. Jennie M. Tay—
lor, Sioux Falls; Auditors, Ruby J.
Smart, Wessingtou Springs. Jane R.
Breeden, Pierre; Press Superintendent,
Jane E. VValdron. Fort Pierre.

The Equal Suffrage Association of
San Diego, Cal.. at their recent annual
meeting in the Chamber of Commerce
were favored by an excellent address
by Mr. Gray. a native and long resident
of New Zealand, on the advanced social
and industrial conditions there. and es—
pecially in their relation to woman suf—
frage. Women have the full vote and
mingle freely in the politcal and social
affairs of their country to the distinct
advantage of all concerned. The speaker
made an eloquent. just and forcible plea
for justice to women and declared his
astonishment at the backward condition
of suffrage in the United States. Mr.
Gray is publishing and editing he
News” in San Diego. A. W.

Mrs. Frances Swiney occupied the
chair at the recent meeting of the Chel—
tenham Suffrage Society. Reviewing the
progreSS abroad, she said such object
lessons should appeal even to their own
befogged House of Commons. As a
church woman it comes with especial
force when Mrs. Swiney asks why are
not the clergy of the Church of England
standing with the women.

ITALY: The Minister of the Interior
has sent out to all the prefects of the
kingdom, on behalf of the committee
appointed to investigate the subject of
giving the municipal suffrage to women,
asking how many women. approximate—
ly, are members of charity and philan—
thropic institutions, private boards re-
lating to children. and professions: the
number paying taxes, and the number
who indirectly vote by proxy according
to the existing law on provincial and dis—
trict government.

AUSTRIA: Under the law relating
to political clubs. foreigners. minors and
women are not allowed to join political
unions, to-federate with political socie—
ties. to correspond with other associa—
tions. or to wear union badges. A
change in the law has been proposed
by some of the independent progressive
deputies. but meanwhile the Austrian
women can do little for their own rights
and cannot join hands with the women
of other lands.

Mrs. Swiney’s latest book. “The Cos—
mic Procession.” can be ordered from
the Woman’s Tribune. post—paid, for
$1.10. A new edition of “The Awaken—
ing of Women," which is the bed—rock
book on the woman question. has been
issued in cheap form and can be se—
cured from the \Voman’s Tribune, post—
paid. for 35 cents or one new yearly
subscription.

‘I

LUN‘ACY LAWS NEED CHANGING.

My Dear Mrs. Cplby: 'P'ermit me to
call the attention of the readers of The
Woman's Tribune to the fact that we
have in the statutes of Ohio 3. law re-
lating to the examination and commit-
ment of the insane to the State hos-
pitals which is not fair or just to free~
born American citizens. As it is exe—
cuted in many of our counties it
amounts to a star—chamber session at
which the accused is not present; neith-
er 15 his next of kin. The medical wit-
ness. is the one individual upon whose
opinion the freedom or indefinite im—
prisonment of an American citizen de—
pends. Medical examinations in lunacy
are not always made on scientific prin—
Ciples and sometimes degenerate into a
mere farce. The legal fraternity, who
should be responsible for these exam—
inations, stand modestly in the-\back-
ground and permit the medical frater-
nity to conduct the whole thing. Hence-
the evidence against the alleged insane
person often goes unexamined as to
truthfulness. Further, our State Board
of Medical Examination and Registra—
tion and our medical colleges prepare
our physicians in a very inefficient man—
ner for a duty involving so important a
question as the freedom of an Ameri-
can Citizen.

Oiir State hospitals for the insane are
conducted like penal institutions; strict
military discipline prevails everywhere;
criminals and innocent people commin—
gle. Sane people get in them and are
often imprisoned for life because no-
body wants them and the terms for a
discharge are not easily satisfied. These
statutes bear heavily on the women of
the State. For example, we have a
husband who enjoys a good reputation
among his neighbors and yet he tor—
tures his wife by some violation of a
moral law. She grows nervous, screams
and runs out of the house when he
threatens her. She wanders out at
night looking for him when he is ab-
sent. He grows tired of her; neighbors
become possessed with an hysterical
fear, and the husband finally betters his
own condition by sending her to a hos-
pital. where the State will bear her ex—
penses. Proceedings are held in her ab—
sence; her next of kin are not notified;
her medical examination is insufficient.
and yet she disappears from life, like
people do in the' country of Rasuli.
Finally, if she was sane when she went
in and can prove it, she has no redress
under the present laws of Ohio. Please
call the attention of the women of our
State to these facts and ask them to
help us to make the laws of Ohio as
just to the citizen suspected of insanity
as they are to the citizen suspected of
crime. We have in Mahoning County
a probate judge who assures me that no
star—chamber proceedings in lunacv shall
be conducted in his office.

Very respectfully,

CONSU‘iELO CLARK STEWART.

The above article by Dr. Stewart is
especially timely just now when Com—
missioner West. of the District of C0—
lunibia. has discovered a sane woman
wrongfully incarcerated in St. Eliza-
beth’s. the national asylum. and has de—
termined on a thorough examination of
all the inmates. There is not a State in
the Union where such an outrage is not
possible, with perhaps the exception of
those where a woman is on the Board
of Visitors, The remedy would be to
require a periodical examination of all
patients. that their condition might be
observed. And there should invariably
be women on the Board of Examiners.
for their quick intuition would enable
them to come more surely at the truth
than men would where women are con-
cerned.

The communication deserves careful
attention, as it is the result of the ex—
perience and observation of a physician
of long practice. There is no doubt that
untold injury has been done to unfort-
unate human beings by persons who
wanted them out of the way.

The Lyceum 'Club is an international
association founded in London in 1903.
in order to bring into relation with each
other women of different nationalities
interested in literature, the art