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VOLUME XL NO, . y' j: " "1011110, ORKOON, '-THURSDAY, DKCKMRKRc15l81,; Z-L ' PER YKARf3 00.
MORE LAST TOUCHES. "
. THE -SENIOR EDITOR FINISH. WORK IN 'Til K
, -WA8IIINQTOJC -TERRITORY LEOISLA
' .r'.' " TURE AS OUR ARTI8T. 1
-TUK MIltDIRBCTED BIT WCLL-MBAKT KKDKAVOIM Or MKN
r;"" ' TO S.KOMLATB rORWOMKX IHWVX I F WITH .
. THEIR TRCB If KAMIMO. I ; r -
, - '' Olympia, DecemWr 5, 1&sL-'
r.To TBI Rbadbks f tub New North wkht : ,
It tu impostiible to do full justice to the dls
. Bolvlrig view of the late Waablngtoa Legislature
In order that the picture Id ink may be
properly finished, we again begin our penciling,
hoping that full Juctlce may be done to all before
this last hour for our sketching closes. .
-vThe new legislative or special session Is or
ganized now,, and the first. member that moves
Into view at this sitting. Is Hon. J. W. Kerns,
Councilman from. Clarke, a sturdy farmer, with
broad- brain and correspondingly comprehensive
views, who, flndlDg it impossible to pass the
Woman uiLrageJlllaa first aitempted, concluded.
. to take opposing mejnbers at their word and offer
a bill empowering women to vote at the next gen
eral election, and thus test their declaration that
they were ready for women to be empowered with
the elective' franchise upon certain vehemently
expressed conditions. The bill, of which the fol
lowing is the text in full, shows how comprehen
sive were the ideas of the gentleman who intro-
duced It, and how carefully he was disposeAllta..
'guard the rights of women in case the same should
become a law:
An Act to Hubmlt the Question of Bull rage to the Women
, orinelTerrltory.
B it enacted by the Legislative 4uembly cf the Territory of
' Washington ; ,-,.
Bbction L That the question of Woman Huffrmte hail be
submitted to the women f the said Territory of Washing
' ton at the general election to be held in the year 18K2, as Is
further provided In this act - - t
Sec 2. All women abore the age of 21 years (except In
dian or Chin women), who are not Idiots or lnsjne,o,r who
have not been convicted of any crime against the laws of
the Territory, shall have the right to vole at said election
ou the question submitted to thenf by ttye provisions of this
bcC, : -. '; .:. -. :. I .
Brr. S. The ballots to..be.jus.ed for the purposes of this act
ihall'have either written or prlnU-d upon them the words
"Woman Huffrage, yw," or "Woman urageiw,,, and no
other words or letters shall be either written or printed
' thereon. ' - ' -
:rrelEcv--Thetrlts of the- eleetkm shall write 4imn In eol'f
I nmns to be prepared for that purpose the names of all
- women.who vote, and the ballots shall be numbered to cor-
respond with the, .number of the names on the Huts of the
cierBC : . : ' : . " .
Rec. & Votes may be challenged, and the right of parties
to vote shall be determined according to the general elec
tion law of this Territory, so far as the same may not con
flict with the provisions of this act ; and the Inspector shall
deposit la a separate, box the ballots received, In accord
ance with the provisions of this act. t
... Bar. A. The votes snail be counted and rvtums made and
- eertifled as In other cases, and the County Auditors of the
- several counties shall make a, true and correct abstract of
such voie anu iremmii in snme uj iuc rwmnrj wi hmli
. ... .w. -s. ..t -Tuarn, and knit
been counted and truly ascertained by them.' r V
Bsc. 7. If a majority of all the votes east under the provis
ions of this act shall be for "Woman Hufffage, yes," then
the Legislature, at Its session Immediately succeeding the
said election of 1083, shall enact such law as shall be neces
sary to com ply with and carry out the desire of the women
of the Territory, as et pressed bjLt&ld .vote. 1
8ec. 8. This act shall take effect and be In force from and
after, JU passage and approval.
(...
The prompt rejection of this bill by the vote of
the members who had loudly proclaimed them
selves in favor of allowing women, the exercise of
the elective franchise "whenever a majorlty of
them should desire it," exposed the insincerity of
their declarations, and placed them on record In
unreasoning hostility to Justice and right. The
last prop was knocked from under their sandy
foundation of argument, and they were left floun
dering In the shallow waters of sophistry, to be
-Washington Territory.
The next Council member who appears on the
scene is Hon. El wood Evans, a portly and intelli
gent lawyer, and a platform public speaker -of
much renown. This gentleman is wejl-kaown
advocate of Woman Suffrage, and the ladies of the
country will ever hold him In grateful remem
brance because of his many manly acts In their
'behalf JuWfluV&ef'ipptlkU: his good in
tentlons, they are led by the terms of his "bill to
define the rights of married persons' to more
fully comprehend than ever before the utter ina
bility of any . person, 'however well disposed, to
represent a class of which he Is not an Integral
part, and from whose standpoint he has no power
to Judge. The first section of Mr. Evans' bill
are clearly
that
rcry, msxrisdrpom tAl.ieistr
A
HffSfanJ "liberty to"acqulref hotd enjoy and dlnprme of
sverTs'pcles of property, and to sue and be sued, as u he or TTolI vein a free country, under a governmen
he were unmarried.
. If this section of the bill were the only one in It
except thotie necessary to iiiHure its enforcement,
Itjrctald be a masterpiece of justice in human leg
Ulation. as It would impose no pecuniary1 disabil
ities whatever upon any ; married person
couple, but , would leave all -such persons free to
make their own mutuaL contracts in - property
matters, or break or . dissolve them by mutual
consent. - ' ' . '
Section 3 of the bill stULfuiUier. impresses the
author's innate idea of Justice upon the mind of
the lover of liberty by providing that
.Ail laws which lmprMeorrccognIsec-lvl(dUabilltlesuon
a wife, which are not Imposed orTccognised aseilstlng as
-to-the ti nmoand. are" ft lercoy "Abolldhed. ' ' T ;
But of course women: understand that it was
necessary, in order thathe'bill should pass, to
provide in this section-that "nothing herelncon
tained shall be construed to confer upon the wife
the fight to vote or hold office." '; :
- The bill further provides that the rights of par
ents In the children, shall be equal, and their tes
tamentary rights shall be equal also.
Section 5 provides as follows :
The property and" pecuniary rights of every, married
woman at the time of her marriage; or afterwards acquired
by gift, devise or Inheritance, with the rents. Issues and
profits fhereofhaM not be subject to the debts or contracts
of her husband, and she may manage, lease, sell, convey,
encumber or devise oy. will such property to the same ex
tent and In the same manner Iit huband can property
belonging to him.
iiaa me out gone no farmer man me sections
before quoted, the above would have been wholly
unnecessary, as all these matters would have hat-
cook
she may have "a 'little of Ihe "management-and
control" of her own earnings, with a "like power
of disposition" in her own hands. .
. Section 18 somewhat palliates the temptation to
kill the custodian, however, for it declares that
The earnings and accumulations of the wfe and of her
minor children living with her, or In hrutody, while
she Is living iejmrate from her husband, are the separate
property of the wife.
We It now '"a wife llvjng nWashlngton Terri
tory who keeps a boardlug-house, and with the
assistance Of- her minor children usually makes a
comfortable llvfng. ' About" tWo "years ago,- her
husband, who has the "management and control
of the community property," but Is In no sense
producer or provider for the household, drew the
entire savings of the wife's business, and . in spite
of her protest Invested them in a wild-cat specu
lation." Innnrrlni in sulditlonal !ht. which th
ggUlLggalfigijhg The husban-JTs'
ar u..-aiu w . vs.. a (i.ii w m Aiia m. . a s - -
of Section 1. Rut Section 5 leads' for still further
legislation, and makes, the whoIe.extremeIy dis
tasteful to the persons who are subject to the law
making power of those, who "declare themselve. anJ Ufny accornmo.jatton.f Bnd how "my"
tuveaieu -wiiu iowrr w ' irEiuKie lur inciu . in
all cases whatsoever."
This bill, taken as a whole, refuses to recognize
the copartnership and unity of-husband and wife
upon (he plane of mutual and undivided interests.
It gives the wife power to hold her projHrty, as
above named, (provided she have any,'whlch sel
dom happens,) as her "separate proiierty, and
the husband'the power Jo control his possessions
as his separate property; It permits each to pue
the otherand lik"the leak in the dykeTopen
great, sluices of discord, through which the ere
while harmonies of ft united copartnership may
be .Bappedrto.tllel r let ractiom,.-,'1 , "'", ! 71 Z
Xe bill provides that the wile 'may receive
the wages' of her personal : labor; a wise
rnnflnalon u-ln : ijrurn .frAnv tli hyp.tlt-.Ml--.
upon - which , the whole Instrument is basel.
However, much wwe liiay deplore . the legisla
tion, that makes such a ' provision necessary,
we' cannot- be too thankful that the Ieglslsture
made it a law ; for, be It known to you, women of
Washington Territory: You who boll and bake
and stew and fry, and wash and scrub and churn
andiron; you who sew and patch and quilt and
nd wash thet dishes; you who
nurse the babies, care for the'slctTand minister to
the wants of the well itt your households pyou
who make the gardens, cook or do cbamberwork
It hotels, or run family boarding or . lodging
houses,JJiat It has been enacted by your friends
in court, under the provisions of Section 9, that
A wife may receive the wages of her personal labor and
maintain an action therefor. In her own name, and 'hold
the same In her own right : and she may prosecute and de
fend all actions at law for the- preservation and 'protection
of her rights and property, as If unmarried. .
7 "Why, that's exactly what we want I" exclaims
Mrs. Don't-Want-to-Vote. "If I could have
twenty-five'-dollars a month for- my r personal
labor and hold and dispose of It as I please so I
wouldn't feel myself a pauper In spite of my toil,
I'd be Just as rich as rdraret6le7Whatareyou
finding fault with Mr. Evans' bill for V
Hold I good woman I You are going too fast.
Don't Jump to conclusions till you know you're
right. Let's look a little further ; Section 14 up
sets your newly-found rights by providing that
Property not acquired or owned separately, as prescribed
In HectlonsSsnd I3,and acquired after marriage by either
husband or wife or both. Is community property; ami the
husband shall hare the managrmmt and eontrot of community
personal property, tt-ith a like pott er of disposition as fie hot i
his separate personal property, except he shall not devise by
will more than One-half thereof. '
There you are, Mrs. D.-W.-T.-V. I " You have
all the rights you want i Pray enjoy them I The
so ardently long that you are willing to barter
your birthright of liberty to procure it, is "com
munity property," and your husband has the
same management and control of It, with a like
hame-Tundamenial principles ofjUce yer ordlspositlon a be; has of hi. wparat.
rly developed and strong, for it provide, tf0?'' - nt? Jh u P1
guarantees to every citizen the
of the laws?"
'equal protection
There Is another palliation n Section 10 which
must not be overlooked, for it provides that
t'pon the death of either hustand or wife, one-half of the
community property shajl go to thesurvlvor,uhJe't to the
community debts, and the other half hall be sutiject to the
testamentary disposition of the deceased hushsnd or wife,
subject to the community debts. -
What. is "sauce for the goose" lnt his section Is
also "sauce for the gander! so we have no com
plaint to make against it for woman's sake; but
we do object on man's account (we're a man's
rights woman), for there Is here a strong tempta
tion plaml before woman , to ipduce her to take
a.!
ivanta&rr her wparftyTrf rOBfMM!J ,n
H,k, to pit spider, in hn.bands' dumplings , l"Jh 'tty of the Anal under its o
not a vicious man, nor is he in any accepted sense
dissipated. He is simply visionary and Idle. He
likes to sit in the bar-room and tell about "my"
' THE ritESIDENPS MESSAGE
A President Arthur's message. Is a lengthy docu-'
men t of fair, ability. Its language is plain and
good.. Reference Is feelingly made to his prede- r
censor's death. a
"Ilelations with foreign countriesare first men
tionetl, .We are at peace with all nations. As
regards the Panama canalt the President doe. not
affirm the Monroe doctrine In a way that can give
offense to other govern men tst but what he says
nevertheless distinctly conveys the Idea that the v
aectir-
own pro
tection.
In discussing financial and home affairs, he
recommends that silver certificate, be called In
and that the act requiring their issue be repealed.
Discontinuance of the coinage of silver dollars is
also recommended. It is suggested that all inter
nal revenue rates be abolished except the taxes
on liquors and tobacco and the special lax on
manufacturers of and dealers In such articles. .
The President thinks the -army should be re
cruited till Its strength reaches 80,00t antT then
maintained at that figure. The old story about
the miserable condition of. the havy Is once more
recited, and Congress. Js urged to take means to
.. i - '
kin to this Is consideration of the condition of
our merchant marine. Congress is asked to make
Inquiry why it is that our country, rich in re
sou rces "and products, has lost the ocean carry !njc
trade, and Is actually dependent on foreign bot
toms for exportation of its own products; but he
offers no explanation himself.
The President views with concern the Immigra
tion to the Hawaiian Islands of outsiders, but say.
uothlng regarding the misnamed "reciprocity"
treaty '-
Two recommendations are made In regard to
the Indian question :. The passage of an act mak
ing the laws of the various States and Territories
applicable to the Indian reservation, within their
borders ; and the enactment of a general law per
mitting the allotment of lands in severalty to
such Indians as deserve It.. - . .
The Mormoauuestion fiTtreated plainly. He la
I particularly severe on polygamy. After mention
ing the fact that for year, the Executive ha called
business is prospering, jrtc., etc., but he has noth
ing whatever to do with It except to collect and
"control' the .money-The-famIly-ll vo-harmoni
ously so far as the world sees, but jt will be a great
wonder if the "Wife with her minor children"
does not conclude, under the provisions of Section
18, to "live separate from her husband" in future
in order to secure some separate- property. Of
course she could not renew (he conjugal copart
nership, for the husband would again have the
"management and control, with ft like power-of
disposition,"' and her only relief could be founjd In
court, against which she has such-strong relig
ious convictions that shesl-U-.il It a an unholy
terror. . . .
Were every iuaTrmiideVefywo"man in the land
so wise and benevolent, so enterprising, capable,
pure, conscientious and true as to rise above the
need4of any laws whatever, there would be no
complaint urged against Mr. Evans' bill. It is
hard, indeed it seems lmtxsslble, for a thoroughly
i- . a- Z : t i . ..- A
uenevoieuv niau w cm jrenenu iiie ueeu n laws
that will recognize, woman's equality janU indl
vhltiallty wi th himself. He does his duty by his
own family; he would not so much as jftjtire a
hair of theif. heads; he. confides In and trusts
IhemTand l6VeF7tIFwIfeas Wsrtfer seU. Such
a man will do hl duty as he understands it, law
or no law. He feel, that he protects, his family,
and other 'men must do the same. HI. mistake
result, he demands better laws in regard to evi
dence'' I nj-oly gamy "casesT' lie says the "duty is
Imposixl 6n Congress jjidthQIxecuiive of. an fta--sault
iipon the barbarous system with all the
power which, under the Constitution and the law,
they can wield against it."
The Immediate establishment of a government
for Alaska is urged, and also the passage of law.
to carry the Chinese treaties Into effect. .
Improvement of the Mississippi Hlver Is recom
mended, but the Columbia is not mentioned.
Civil service, reform Is discussed at length. A
trial of certain features of the English system I.
recommended. -
What would Mr. Evans think of a bill "to de
fine the rights of copartnership," similar in all
respects to thejblll under review, except that it
related to blondes and brunettes among men?
Suppose the blondes were considered in law the
resjKnsible class, and the brunettes the protected
one. If he will read his bill from beglnuidg to
end, precisely as It stands in law, substituting
"blonde" for husband and "brunette" for wife in
allscclton perUtntnff to the sole interests of two
partners in a life-long business, and report hfs
v I ntilnlrin id It f. F iip r-a.---.ri -a4 will Im. r mitnk
tnntir.flfi'il-II.M tr,.il. fe 1.1t. iTii T ' " ' ' ' "v
w v s j v v ".swssb --w 4 a v a n uivil J wlfl
obliged to him for the favor.
. We have been so long engagetl In sketching Mr.
Evans and his bill that it is almost time to go
home, so we rapidly note the pleasing fact that
thetiihthctla I prwvUlt greets
the Honorables of both Houses, as is evidenced by
their endeavor, to secure each other's autographs
and post office addresses in gaily glided and elab
orately embossed ladles' albums. '
With this parting comment, we bow ourself out
can will away "one-hair thereof" to somebodv
-?lsi-T-iryotrre-T grand iv1TT"fr
"tty w me i iswcracj vi sex, ivi'iing use ascnooi-
" I inJ.m 1.1,4.1 1 I,-.. I A !. S II
sua mum viuuiiik "r "'B "J SI CHU I I C W T 1 1 ,
and honinir anma riav In thofotilra In mju (ham
. - - - O J mmm - " W v - mmf. W
II all af ain. - A. H. II.
Ai S.
r4. -
.The earnest attention of Congress is asked to ft
consideration of the "lnablIlty".-questIon raised
during President (larfleld's sickness.
consists In imagining that woman', position and
individuality are secondary ; that her Judgment Is
weak, her conceptions narrow, as compared to
men's, and her rights .must be undr Jhe control
of her husband as the head of the firm. The truth
1. that men and women, are-equal, endowed by
their Creator with equal Inalienable rights; that
they should be at all times left free to make their
own contracts and control their own Interests in
the mutual copartnership of marriage, the same
as if unmarried; the same as if they were making
a business copartnership as between men and
men, wherein the headship or responsibility be-
i-ggrUj)l-----jhflyJl i Jd!LtaJ-heltiwaleotIoay4 cease tbe-watter Hm men t.Ther present
3VOMEN PHYSICIANS.
It Is within the recollection of persons not far
advanced In years when an educated Woman
physician was a novelty as rare as a white black
bird. Now there are no less than 300 of that class.
In active practice, mostly in the State, of New
Yorkr-Massachusetts amKPennsylvanla. Com-
mentlng on this fact, the Mary svl lie Appeal
says : "The change that has already taken place
is probably only the beglnnlng of a new era. In
a few years the number of women who are credit
able doctors will be so great that their sex will
condition of thing. Illustrates the mollified
theories regarding marriage which are prevailing.
Formerly , dtjvas thought that woman, chief
aim and object waa marriage. Now multitude,
prefer the independence which Is gained by
avoiding It, Of the practitioner, enumerated
above, seventy-five per cent were .Ingle when
they began their studies, and it I. not probable
that many of these have since taken' husbands.
Tli us,-those women who aspire to ft career are
leaving a more open field to their less ambltiou.
and more domestically disposed sisters." ' . ".
The Shakspeare Society of London has elected. -;H
Mrs. Clarfleld its "first Ironorary member" as
j-llghUjl-O-tfl-pf. a-lmlraUoaof thelovln Ue-
votlon shown by her during the long and painful
Illness of the late President." President Garfield
was an active member of the society. '
the JYeshlngton TeitJxjLXeglslatareftd-
Jtiurnrtl lant Frlilay mnrnlng at I a'aloekr-aftee-an-
all-night session.'. The Orrgonian's excellent re
port, of proceedings during the past couple of
month, were furnished by Professor W. 11. Roberta. .
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