LET US THEREWITH BE CONTENT. 341 



LET US THEREWITH BE CONTENT. 



BY ELLEN COIT ELLIOTT. 



M iHE men of America have met the suffrage agitation with an 

 -L admirable gallantry. Aspersed to their faces from the 

 rostrum as masculine creatures of unfathomable iniquity, they 

 return only a deprecating smile. Assured by the " new woman " 

 that the ever feminine leadeth them on, and that politics will 

 clarify as soon as the superior purity and integrity of the sex are 

 brought to bear upon them, they appreciate her splendid confi- 

 dence, applaud, and cry her on. There are those who, ever sus- 

 picious of the masculine character, take umbrage at this favor, 

 looking upon it as an impertinent condescension. But surely we 

 may grant that the slow partner of our humanity, admiring our 

 victorious advance, and bewildered by our swift onslaughts from 

 all points at once, wishes by his expressions of good will to 

 placate our wrath and further our desires. Stupid and mannish 

 he may be, but after all he is rather good-natured. 



American women, however, are taking toward the question 

 at issue a curious attitude. One large and picturesque division, 

 when exhorted that they " ought " to desire a finger in the polit- 

 ical pie, if not for the sake of the pie at least for the sake of the 

 finger, show a sweet resignation, and, definitely premising that 

 they do not wish the ballot, cry meekly that if it be the will of 

 God to give it to them they will do their best to make a proper 

 use of it. Others express a frank impatience with our prophets 

 and saviors. Others, still, recognizing that the vantage ground 

 upon which American women stand to-day is not entirely the 

 result of democracy, give due gratitude and appreciation to those 

 who through hard battles have helped to win the position. 

 " But," they exclaim, " stay in your ministrations of deliverance ! 

 Forbear to impose upon us the added responsibility of the suf- 

 frage!" And, worst of all, masses of these shackled citizens 

 show an unalterable apathy toward the injustice they are suffer- 

 ing, and indifference to the hands reached out to help them. 

 Surely never did enthusiasts have to deal with more refractory 

 and exasperating material. The suffrage leaders have proved in 

 their own persons the angelic quality of womankind in not giv- 

 ing up long ago the attempt to free such inveterate slaves. 



What is the significance of this general reluctance ? To give 

 her the suffrage is to add another to the long list of her oppor- 

 tunities for exercising power and influence outside of the home, 

 and the question becomes, Do American women desire this, and if 

 not, why not ? The answer is bound up with the hackneyed sub- 

 ject of " woman's sphere," and, as all our philosophy is nowa- 



