'V
1 . J
r.
-,
X
THE NEW yOKTHWEST, XHUUSDAV," JANUARY C, 1881.
V ' V
I.
S
i
i
U
A Journal or Iks YoV , ' :
arfepriMJntf If Jtlitic mttd Religion, I k '
- ' -v Alive Is all Mr Issue, and Thorough! Radical in Op
faming and" Exposing th Wrong Iks Muse. ,
bukscriftYos rates is ADVAXcr.st
' 0W Tear, by Jf'tf..............'l.. ...M
' Mu, Month, - ........'. -.-........ ..... I AO
There Months, - 1 00
Jtor Month to City Patrons Itlrllverstl) ...4- JBJ
AdveHisemenU will be Inserted mt Reasonable Trior.
" Art Correspondent Intended or publUtatUm should be ad-
to the Editor, and nil business letter to the
D US I WA T 1'VBLlS II ISO . COM PA S'V,
No. WuMkUfflon street, Portland, Oregon.
ronnwiND, OREOON, tiiuiwday, January c imu.
( Mi
A NEW BASIS.
v
The next annual-meeting of the.Oregon State
Woman Suffrage -Association (oi the 8th prox
imo) will be the first State Convention held with
L '. recognized constitutional platform to stand ujon.
thebrkjhltherto ha been' preitoratory ; but
xthe recent legislative, action ha placed the inovc-
- stent on a, new and Important , bawl. - Lawyers
and Judges alike agree that women have gained a
great point.'.' The Convention' will enhance the
work. The time ha come for a long pull, a strong
pulfjaud pull altogether. EverybodyJwho Is
interested in the cause in urged to attend and pa r-
UCijwie in III proeeeuiiigH. iuww wn jire iiui
. Interested should attend, listen and bo converted.
Hie usual half-farcratea by rail and steamer will
andoubtedly bo. afcuredrand free entertainment
. ; will, be providetl for all who come from Interior
alae. Duly accredited delegate from all organ-
Ited county associations are expected. .. ,x -
WOMAN SUFFRAGE IN TEXAS.
Mention has heretofore Ikmmi made 'In the col-'
' amn' of this paper of the law passed by the last
i Legislature of Texa, by which the right of ' suf-r1
frage In conferred on the women of the htate. Tlie
luglslator had no Intention of .doing' justice to
women lut Inadvertently blundered Inhe
right, direction. Tljey were revising the Ktatute
-mt lheBtat"anTrunder the rule governing, the
onHt ruction of the aald utatute, .dwreed tha
' Mlhe macullne gender -shall Include the feminine
and neuter." This rule, of course, applied to law
' mvmlitfr flction. and Woman SufTrage la
"therefore InTuiriorce In' Texan. nielteTittoTni
the women of the State haa leen called to their
wholesale enfranchisement, and they ahould'and
- probably will take full ssesslon of theirrlghts.
It la reported" that tlie lawyer and the legislators
tteriy bewildered at the weeping-change
'made by the clause above quoted, and that they
nraytake measure to repeal ltf but'thewdmen
X tliej will tt the .matter in the Courtf If
v aacAiiaovvment Is made, and lively time are ex
jiaictetL It lafn'rther reportel that many ottJe
Htate afflclal are In favor of permitting the mat
tar taatand as It Is and allowing the women to
vote wllliout further trouble,. and probabTy that
win be the end of the mattcr.-Thft 8an J U-
A FOOLISH TEST OF RlTTHFL'LfESS.
A lady haa called our attention to an editorial
In the Ban Francisco Argonaut of December 18th
In condemnation of the acquittal of Schroeder for
killing Dr. Lefevre of Oakland. The fact devel
oped In the trial were that Lefevre and Mr.
Schroeder had been-guilty of criminal intimacy,
that the wife had confessed it to her husband and
her father, and that six week after the Confession
the husband fatally shot her paramour, Schroeder
waa,acqultted on the theory that he was suffering
from ''transitory homicidal mania,." the Jury being
three day In coming to a verdict. There wa no
direct evidence introduced that criminal intimacy
existed between the victim and his slayer wife
only her private acknowIedgmenTTo her husband"
and her father of the unhallowed relation: The
wife was not called a a 1 witness ; her father's
statement of her'cohfesslon wa accepted as fully
as would have been her sworn testimony. The
confession may be entirely truthful, but it should
not have been received second-handed as evidence
before a court of Justice. Tlie laxity which char-
acteiited the admission of evidence l censurable.
and greater strictness might have caused the Jury
to render a dlffereut verdict: but the manner In
which the cane'was conducted Is no excuse for the
AryoitauCs attack on Mrs. Schroeder:
Tklw.wlfo U .believed to hv tefD uncliimt before lir
uitorrlnr". Thin Inn.Imiil U Jtellevvd to have known IL
Tli In (itthr U prevuiiietl to have known It. If she ItK'ked
ebsMtix,Hlie larked all othtr tlrtue. snd mong ollim
thnt of trutbfnlnpiw. Wbn bc tuhm?d her crime with
le.'U-ffro et us-pnt it beljr. her crliue sgslnHt IWevre,
If any criminal lntereourlwI''TiBa exluted her hnnband and
ier father should have presumed she llel. They should
bave presumfHl that It was an artlfle to shK-ld some giifltr
a..t.. ,
-These - woiilir-bru taU Tl?y -ar-alo-llI$v
They enunciate a test for truthfulness that is
Idiotic. .Ap'plled to men, they would serve to In
validate the. claim of nine nn or every ten to
veracity; , anu, ninee prenuiupiious nrv ui oruer,
the wlltor of tle Argona'ut may lw "presumed" to
lo one jof the Jtine, as he apiears to understand
fallen, M oim n. X't'nder this nonsensical test of In
tegrity, Schroeder would have had cauty of action
against Ix-fevre If his wife had denied that she
and the doctor had leen criminally Intimate be
cause, forsooth, she must nave ilea"; ac
cording to tlie doctrine promulgated In the extract,
the husband of a compromised wife would be right
In wrecking vengeance on the editor of the Argo
naut if the faithless woman should assert that she
1..1 nskvstm lnufctt Ait. Airmail 4f iiiMflisnift assoidatloii I
with him "her husband should presume she
lies." Tlie extract make the woman the crimi
nal. and the man the victim ,'Jtier crime agaTntft
Lefevre." The Argonaut passe the test jmony of
the domestic in Schroeder' house, that Ixfevre
wa in the house one evening and precipitately
disappeared through the back door when the hua-
ImiuiI fMriCtrlly mlvm, ty tmyXtkH tUotP la Mpo
rviirrobo rated proof V ot-ltundlsgulstinteniptl
for the oath of a. woman who I not. chargetl with
beiug unchaste. , , -
During the reign of the sand-lot element In San
Francisco, the Argimnut did good " Work by Its
fearlesa Jeuunclatlon of the band of loud-mouthwl
A LATEJJVW CASE.
Veaterday Orrgonian told of a silk-good firm
In England that brought stilt against a Mr. Mellon
for the recovery of the cost of dresses furnished to
his wife, whbuihe had forbidden to Incur bill
The case went from court to court up to the high
est, where It ha Just been decided in the husband's
favor. "Tlie august tribunal rules," says the Ore
gonian, "that where a husband makes his wife an
allowance and expressly forbids her to run up ac
count In hi name, he cannot le held liable for
any good she mayrobtaln I by drawing upon his
credit; and indeed that, unless the seller can show
that special authority has been conferred Ulon the
wife, the seller cannot recover Judgment."
AH of Which goes to prove to the average en
lightened American woman thatthe "august
tribunal" of England is composed of domestic
tyrant pf whom' George tlie Third wa only a
representative on a larger scale. 1 .
Imagine a man, If you can, so situated finan
cially, because' of "coveture," tliaT all hi time,
strength and earning are so completely monopo
lize! by; hi wife that he hasn't even a iuit of
clothe that he can-rail hla twn jnote -that;bi
tastes, aplratiws and sense of Justice have not
"been and cannot be changed by the marrie4gtttte ;
let hlswjrej.wni become his financial law, and
let her. presume to assert her Judgment arid altlior-J
lfy"over hi act aud expenditures to such a'degree
that without her flat or permission he cannot get a
dollar at home nor a dime-of credit outside; sup
pose that husband to be so surrounded bv law and
cuffnTttrat he"has no redress, even In the courts;
and picture every other husband In a like situa
tion, dependent on the will or caprice of his wife
Oltto'lhe amount or character of. lm expend!
ures. vannot every (innking ierson, man or
Woman, see at once that such a condition of de-
lendeiice would cause men to" become deceptive,
ycohantic, "unreliable, unreasonable ami frlv'
olous? ' - .1 -
What wonder that average English women, es'
vclally among the middle classes, who come to
America, are noted chiefly upon their arrival' for
their abject servility to their lords and their
stupid perception, o their own rights?
wonder that they learn rapidly, aftcr rcachlng
America, that they are individuals, and; as such,
are entitled upon their own account to life, liberty
and happiness? What wonder that thev after-
wards become noted among the foremost leaders
THE SLATTERN.
- All women are not born housekeepers. Many
of them can never be trained to take Interest In
dish-water. yet all women, like all men, are.
naturally gHULfor something. Why should our
slattern 'be compelled -to keep house, for which
she is not gifted, when there are other occupation
far more remunerative for which she has talent,
and which she would. follow successfully If she
were a man ? It Is true that housekeeping Is neces-
What-saryr. So Is dally labor in the fields and the wood.
But the man who has a genius for mechanics will
not dig In the mud, nor Is the man who can teach
music compelled to wah dishes because he Is
married. . '.- ' .' -
Then let our slattern have a chance. liet her
JjLJippoaiiigaluaaJaliottUi
the
9A ImiAMtii rti t. 1iwn font, urli t It roa t afiam!
mm .peaas ... c..u,u .U.a. . , -"- of the'cltyIt became noteil for Its bitter
don In Texas, and every woman should xlosely
t read and weigh It word on the lmjortance of
' eaerctslng the ballot : ' , '
V The women of Texas, nnder these c!rcuuis'ant m, bave a
ETwU mponMWIWy; placed . oponr-them If ihejr should
gwjeraty rrfnwe to avail themselvee of their aerlden tally
aocrnlrvd rlfbta, lb wlclutd men will probably declare thai
ey tto not rare ffyrthe sntrntce-. am! revoke the inlvfTPger
X. flume of oar own eloquent Woman Hunraiata should
f enrn to Texas this Winter and see that no mistake of thai
Kind, U made. . , u-'.' . ' .
These few word are deeply significant. Tliey
- Bint at dread resuiUlfeiwnnieh ofjTexa are
apathetic about exercising their right.1 If the law
I not taken, advantage, of, It will be repealed, and
woman' cause will not "only be Irretrievably
groined in Texa, but It will be greatly damaged
la otheVBtateswhere much work hna Iteen done.
'The women of Texas should accept and exercise
' 'the ballot a a duty not only to themselves, hut to
the women and ..the men of America and the
wnrldV"TQrpolf Ity7"longKdg6Wrnm
allty,, to virtue, to freedom of thought and peech,
t liberty of conscience and action. Let no sent!
aentalist oppose their use of the right because It
unintentionally granted them. The statute I
ftMtndcd In Justice, Is based on the equality of
IUi man beings, and practically la auch a law as
ahould have betn In operation throughout the
-world since the r creatIon.yA. welt advise an In
aocent man, with the death penalty hanging over
; Urn on the charge of murder, to refuse to escape
the scaffold when opportunity offers, a to urge
women to nruse iaccepijiiiatia-rignuuiiy
- their acwruTngToevery principle of a repukll
in government. r -
Invective against the bog-trotting Irish, commu
nistic French and socialistic Germans. Now that
the Worklngraan party 1 defunct, it must have
something else on which to pour Its Violent A'ltu
perallonrand It seetn:the agrarian In Ireland
ars to irel th- bulk of it. thouh-erfluir women
- " - - . ' "
wlUaslohally beToadeSrwIlhlrnlent Vllinca
tlon for variety's7 sake. The former it cannot
hurt, and the latter will damage It, if we mistake
not.To our personal knowledge, three ladies of
this cltyormeradmlreofihe Argonauthaxe
In the past two weeks lost all regard for the paper.
One 6f them, who had laid by It subscription
price for 1881, concluded she could put heunouey
to better use than In helping to sustain a paper that
ha no charity for; the sinning and misguided of
her sex, and "presumes": all their utterances are
Ilea, but which does not Impugn the veracity of
reputedly unchaste men, and Will not accept evU
'denceof tlielr-alulteryrveii though It be ufll
clent to satMy a Jury. It may; with Impunity
build climax after climax jf denunciation of
"nihilists, communists, agrarians, or Democrats,"
of "Kearney Ites, Parnellltes, Irish anti-renters, or
sand-lotters," of "Molly Magulres or editors of the
meaner class of Catholic and Hebrew Journals,"
but public -f sentiment ,wU set down on it
heavily when It attempts' to lle up Its beastly
abuse and devilish detraction of girl led astray
under a social and political system one of tlie
principles of which is that It Is the duty of men to
protect women . -- - , .
The New York 7W6m Is "authorised" to say
Ciat "Cleneral Oarfleld' administration I not to
Csuaoil a a make-weight In pending Senatorial
orm tests- la New York or elsewhere flr that -i'men
from New York and other Utea who had the
eourage at Chicago to obey the wishes of their
trict In balloting for President, and who thus
dally votetl for Garfield, shall not aufTer for It nor
Viae by It ;" that tlte "administration Is to be one
for thn whole Ilennbllcan lartr." All of which
The Truth newspaper of New York confessed on
Tuesday that the Morey letter was a forgery, and
made an elaborate apology to General Garfield.
Editorially It stated that at the time of the publi
cation It believed the letter to be genuine, and It
belief became conviction when Speaker Randall
Senator -Barnum,- Abrem S. Hewitt and -other
prominent members of the Democratic Natloual
Committee pronounced the letter genuine.
The senior editor 1 compelled to announce to
her many friends that it l Impossible for her to
reply privately to letters of other than business or
sounds aueer to us fosslllxed individual who be-I special Importance, her correspondence being so
Cflvs that the Chief - rixecuuve h vu umivu wr wm um uv w
nied the recompense of representation ?
The Injustice of keeping the mother of men in
a state of financial serfdom docs not stop with the
mothers.- It refWcta It adverse consequences upon
the sons, Given, a mother in thrall, and her son
will be a tyrant; a miser, arascal or a spendthrift.
Outraged nature la alwaj-s taking an opportunity
to avenge herself. Obstruct-her. channels of Jus-.
r, and her stream of life become dangerous
torrents, overflowing their banks aud scattering
devastation In their track,
.-American women are by no hican exempt from
the tyranny that makes them servants without
iwagcswheneTer: their husband-: so will It phut
lheAmertcan despot who will cut . off his wife's
allowance at home, or refuse her credit at tlie
stores, Is despised by his fellows ; and the Ameri
can citizen wlio even advertises an absconding
wife, unless forced to do so by peculiar clrcum-
stanevs, " loses caste : In the estimation of better
mcn7"And yet the Idea prevails to this day among
I the majority of our better classes of men that they
oetter compreiiena the nnauciamcedf orwOmcfiT
than do women themselves.' The result of this
false ruling may be seen here and there In extrav
agant women; but the cure can be found In a re
moval of the causeV"Let all women .be endowed
with equal tights with their husbands, and finan
cial responsibility will naturally accompany these
rights. Free women areas acquisitive aa free
men.-Thousands of 'them, even in Oregon, are
proving this by their example torday. jOlve them
all a chance. If their work" U at home, let It be
made as remunerative as though It were in the
field, pr store or office. Aftr-a few decades of
equality trwomea before theriawrthe barbarism
that calls forth this article will be as dead as Afri
can slavery now Is. Then will dawn a brighter
era for motherhood. "Men do not gather grapes
of thorns, nor figs of thistles," nor can they hope
for a high order pf manhood In their sons while
their wives are Irresponsible pensioners upon such
bounty as they may choose to give or withhold.
Tlie New Northwest thanks the Ortgonhtn
for Its defense of Justice for women. A single
paragraph'llke the one above quoted sets sensible
women a-thlnklng, even If they have not before
studied the problem of their own personality. The
common-Iaw-ofKngland, that make woman a
serf, ha been set aside in Oregon through tempo
rary statutes, y. The ballot In woman's hand alone
can make these statute perpetual Without it
she 1 at the mercy of future legislators, Judges
and Jurors, many of whom are naturalized Eng
lishmen, who will lay aslde theirown opinion at
any time and accept In Its stead tlie ruling of
England's "august tribunal," which has virtually
declare! that wives have no rights which husbands
are bound to respect a decision which smack so
much of the ruling of Justice Taney In the Dred
Scot case that we should be alarmed for the future
If there were no Fred Douglasses among the women
of the land. " ' - ; -
khould be the President of the people Democrats,
Qreenbackers, prohlblClonlst-i anTHSTomen even,
well as Republican.
celved. She la happy to receive their letters and
always find time'to read thempbut must refer
friend to the Nkw Nobthwbst for all new of her.
George C Gorham 1 annouQji-JMLdltabin
chief of the Xatlonal ficpvbliean of, Washington
She lazily stfioiTat her kitchen door, her dres
torn at the waslt, and her slippers down at tb
heeL About lier loin wa pinned a soiled table
cloth, which had doubtless done duty for a week
at the confused family board. Her dress war ;
awry at the throat, and one wrist-band lacked a
button, while the other wa rolled back, display ,
lng a smutted, greasy arm. She waa toying with
a dirty dish-cloth and watching" two little boy,
as dirty a herself, playing with marbles In the
allej. At the sight of a passer-by, she turnel to
enter the kitchen, revealing a rip In the. back of
her dress, . x
We asked questions aliout her, and learned tha ,
she was a brilliant graduate or a popular-school -for
girls. -She had read the Valedictory at "com
mencement," and had played the piano superbly.
That was all. She could not .. inalte her own '
dresses or properly cook her husband's beefsteak.-;
At school she had been tidy enough In her person,.'
and had never needed chiding about keeping her
room In-order. She had married for love. Her
husband was a poor man, who could not afford a
Tiano or servantIIer parent' had exhausted "
their slender means in giving her a society educa
tion. Housework, washing, and the care of chil
dren, became her portion. The result w-a the
lattern alove described. She had no-taste , for
housework, and no education4 for it. She had no
heart In her work, because, It was not ft cr. work.
She was 'a fine accountaiit," a first-class needle
woman,'a brilliant musician, and a natural writer.'
Who Mould say that a young man, proftVent In
all these things, must lieeessarilyjllg In the ground
becauseagrieulture Is the primul occupation of
hi sex r f : -
hire a capable woman. M-hose business Is house
keepings to keep her liouse. If her hysband'
sock need darning, shecair buy him new oAs.
If his buttons come off, he can sew them onagain
If the children need a nurse-girl, she can lilre one." ,
Her congenial work in the store or music ball will
not keep her away from the babies any iiiore than ,
her uncongenial work at the wash-tub now doetC
Tljcn the old light will come back to herTyes and
the old color to her cheeks, and si e will no longer,
be a slattern, for she will respect herself as of old, - -and
her iHisband will not have further cause to "
rue the day that she became lit s wife
Irs.'Ellen Campbell, for many years ,Suierl
tehdent of the North Carolina Deaf, purab and
Blind Institute, has been discharged for writing
to a friend that "Tlie Fool's Erraiid" gives a good
picture of Southern, life. She doubtless has dis
covered that the 4lchlyalry'l of Southerners in a
vaguendeflyn(wattrlbuteJlOther- women - In
'various sections of the country have had experi
ences similar (6 TienCTly comparTng notes, all wl I
find that "chivalry". Is a filmy, gauzy substance,
and of. uniform transparency everywhere. The
vain, happy - word of men - about therauperior
worth, goodness and nobleness of womienare re
solved Into Idle talk' when some substirittlal and
practical exemplification of the truth and sincer
ity' of the remarks Is asked, as women seeking
political preferment or financial aggrandizement '
generally learn. -The professed aloratlon of men-
prove a hollow, mockery in the race of life, and
woman Amis that, to be successful In the struggle .
for existence, she must have equal civil and polit
ical right; and prlrllegcrlnstead of fulsome eulo '
glum.,-.. ' ' - . ,
The Secretary of tlie Interior has decided that a
married woman, whose husband is still living, but.
who ha exhausted his right under, the laws, can
make an entry and acquire a title in her own
right under the desert land act. Thl-decision of
Secretary Schurx 1 based upon the broad ground
thatawqjnan Is a citizen. Just as truly as a man
Is, and a the law In question provide for entries
of desert land simply by citizens of the United
States, the enjoyment of its benefit cannot prop
erly be restricted to male citizens. " '"
A "coin fight" Is being made in Nevada for the
Senatorshlp, and Fair will probably be elected, as
he ha the most moneyTTOne of the anomalies of
this representative governmeut Is that this "rot
ten borough," with but 62, OCX turbulent Inhabit
tants, ha two Senators, while Washington, with
more and better population and greater resources
In everything that tends to make a country pros
perous, remains a Territory.
Tlie "true Inwardness" of De Lesseps' Panama
canal scheme Is found In the nineteenth article of
the compact of the association, which provide
that ten per cent of -the shares are to form a prlvU
leged class of , stock for the founders' of the com- -
Pny. . IlUiejrhole tQcXjasiOf-BM, th!L
privileged proportion would amount to about
x: -t-: r::!:-
...