Life — October 27, 1910 — page 28: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

“LIF E- Priscilla Still in the Ring ERE is a matter, dear sisters, which again shows the despicable tyran.y of man. Supreme Court Justice Guy, who granted a writ of habeas ‘corpus to # “yoman sen- tenced to the Metropolitan slospital on Blackwell's Island under the new women’s court law, dismissed the writ yesterday and in his decision said: “While I have some doubt as to the validity of the statute in some minor re- spects, its purpose is so entirely humane and beneficial to the unfortunate class of women whom it affects, as well as Protective. to the public generally, that am unwilling to suspend its operation even temporarily.’’ Do you remember that when this man- made law first came into effect a number ~ of our brave Suffragettes went down to the Night Court all prepared to cause a riot in the court room if the law was enforced? “Humane and _ beneficial "— bah! What does a truc, brave, notoriety- ing Suf- fragette care about “humane and beneficial” when by doing some violent and intemperate act she can get her own name and our sacred cause mentioned in the papers? The silly philanthropists who secured the passage of this law—mostly men, but also some women, I am ashamed to say—claim it is the first intelligent legal step that has been taken in the way of dealing with a tremendous evil. That's all twaddle. The law doesn't treat men and women alike and thus gives us Suffragettes a chance to get our- selves noticed. And it was a man-judge who made this decision. If a woman had been on the bench we would have sent her some flowers and given a tea with her as the “guest of honor.” Then perhaps the decision would have been dif- ferent. If we had the ballot the judge might have been a woman. Votes for Women! That's the way to cure evils. “La fonction de la femme allemande n'est pas de courir les meetings et de disputer aux hommes leurs droits, mais de mener une vie paisible au foyer et de s'occuper de son ménage."’ (Extrait d’un discours de Guillaume 11.)* ALWAYS knew Willie Hohenzollern was a beast, and that proves it. It y the kind of an utterance one would expect from a brain sodden with lager beer and wienerwurst. In Ger- many he may be a king by divine right (or able to bunco his stupid people into believing it, which is the same thing), but thank fortune we American Suf- fragettes live in a free country, where we can “courir les meetings” as much as we like with no one to y us nay—not even the husbands who sup- port us. * The duty of the German woman is not to frequent meetings and argue with men about their rights, but to lead a peaceable do- mestic life and busy herself with household affairs—Extract from an address of William II, HAVE just been reading about an ex- hibition of what is called a Suffragette Suit. It is made of pearl gray cloth, and consists of a Suffragette Coat and what I suppose might be called Suffragette Pants. The latter are only a modification of the old divided skirt, with convenient side pockets for money, keys, handkerchief and the other things we are always drop- ping when there is a man around to pick them up. The pants would also remove the need for the handbag we carry to tempt professional thieves and needy per- sons to crime. Of course, the Suffragette Suit is the invention of a fool man dress- maker, Can any one imagine a mecting of real Suffragettes listening to a person attired in a costume like this? No, indeed. We want our speakers dressed in the very latest styles, with the biggest hats and most hobbled skirts. This attracts the attention of the sisters and gives them something to think and talk about. The effect is heightened if the wearer figures prominently in the society and divorce columns of the daily newspapers. We, who are agitating “ Votes for Women,” have studied the psychology of women, and we know what appeals to the intellect of the sex, and you may be sure, sisters, it isn’t anything which tends towards sim- plicity in dress. Handsome clothes and “Votes for Women” go hand in hand. DIRECT insult to our sex is con- tained in the play called “ The Concert,” which David Belasco has put on at his theatre. The hero is a dear pianist who evokes the most divine melo- dies and harmonies from the instrument of his choice. Mr. Belasco goes out of his way to make ridiculous the legitimate adoration which the piano-play- er’s women pupils and ad- mirers lavish upon him. We girls, being finer in our instincts and intuitions than men are, all love music. Why should we not also love the person who produces it? We know the musician’s tem- Perament and his love of feminine affection. I know of no good reason why we shouldn't give him flowers and other gifts. Nor why we shouldn’t crowd about him and kiss his hand and beg locks of his hair to show our appre- ciation. To try to make us appear ridiculous because of these evidences of women's superior intellect is an insult, if I know what an insult is. Mr, Belasco would not dare to do it if women had the ballot. Votes for Women! dear sisters. That’s the remedy. With the ballot we could punish Mr. Belasco as he de- serves. Votes for Women! PRISCILLA JAWBONES. comicbooks.com