USA > Illinois > Cook County > Chicago > The Congress of Women : held in the Woman's building, World's Columbian exposition, Chicago, U.S.A., 1893 : with portraits, biographies and addresses > Part 67
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proportion than is generally supposed. Our India silks are largely made in Connecticut. Most beautiful brocades are made in Patterson, N. J. What a trade has grown out of our intercourse with China; the beautiful wood carving, the bronzes and lacquered ware from Japan, how they have delighted us. Let anyone recall the progress of these few industries. We have felt the stimulation of the Centennial from the broad Atlantic to the shores of the peaceful Pacific. We awoke from our slumber, and with our awakening came the desire to see the countries that sent us their treasures. And the result is the most traveled people in the world.
The wonderful, the curious, the unique find a ready market with Americans abroad, and are chosen with that same keenness of wits that characterizes the amass- ing of great fortunes, and brings to our attention a trait, truly American, that the best is none too good for us, our homes or our museums. So that from the year 1876 may be counted the birth of the fine arts in the United States. The development of architecture has made this Columbian Exposition possible; a surprise to ourselves, the wonder and admiration of the world.
No accident has brought about this dream of beauty, this perfection of harmony; but practical education, whether pursued in the Old World or in the New. Culling out the gems of ancient architecture and adapting them to the modern has not been done by the hand of ignorance. All agree to the magnificence of conception, and behold! how well it has been carried out.
It has been said that the buildings found in the Paris Exposition would have been expected in Chicago, and the buildings found in Chicago would have been expected in Paris.
In that first exposition the world lent us their treasures. This year they have brought them. All countries have come to us, and the Islands of the Sea have con- tributed their curiosities, and, more than all, themselves. Think you, that having touched our civilization they can return to the same rut, and fill the same small place as before? The hope and belief that the world will be the gainer for this coming together, is that the women have come, and woman takes no backward step in this age. Will they take a lesson from us? A new idea? Can we do them any good? When woman feels a prompting from within to a better living, higher aims, there is hope for her future. Will prejudice, custom, environment be too much for these? We have only to study the crowd as it passes by to hear snatches of conversations, the acci- dents and incidents of a week at the fair, to read the signs of the times.
One of the women which we would like to help gives her opinion of us in the fol- lowing language: "The women of this country interfere with everything." I am afraid her criticism was merited. One said: "Your people are very inquisitive, must see and examine everything."
Styles for men are changing, swearing has gone out of fashion, chewing tobacco is only indulged in on the sly, or by the uncultivated. While within the month I heard some fashionable young men discussing smoking with the remark that " it is no longer good form to smoke on the fashionable promenade."
There has been such a warfare waged upon intemperance, that public opinion would not tolerate a man upon these grounds who gave evidence of intoxication.
Women are largely instrumental in bringing about this change in sentiment; and wisely, too, for here she may roam from morning until night in perfect safety, with- out a thought of molestation.
The United States have received the poor, the unfortunate, the degraded of all countries for years, and now we are glad to welcome the refined and cultivated class of foreigners who have been the nation's guest since this Exposition has been opened. Having clasped hands with all the world, that a friendship may flow from it both true and lasting, let us hope that many reciprocity treaties will follow with the smaller nations who have been our guests, and that the markets of the world may open to our productions. That to us, and through this channel, will come back like " Bread cast upon the waters, return after many days." That the expenditure of $50,000,000 will be an eventual gain to the nation.
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We classify woman and electricity as the two forces making the greatest progress of the age. Woman has been largely emancipated from old prejudices. The broad- shouldered, clear-headed woman has taken her place. Active, hard working, informing herself, developing herself, studying the ethical questions of the times, giving her substance and herself to helping the poor and elevating the race, compare her posi- tion in any of the great public movements to the important one she occupies in the Columbian Exposition. It is our share of the legacy from Qucen Isabella. It was a progressive woman who sacrificed her jewels for the hope of finding a new world.
And I hope her new honors may be borne with moderation and dignity. It is not enough to accomplish, but to do it well.
It is said that at the Centennial the electrical exhibit occupied one corner of a room, and that at Paris a whole room was given, while here a whole building is all too small.
What shall we say of a marvelous agent that controls light, heat, power.
The many, many uses of electricity multiply endlessly. And still there are those who prophesy that the knowledge and uses of electricity is in its infancy. From the earliest ages, without education, man valued gold, silver and copper, the precious metals; but it took the keys of science to unlock the hidden mysteries of nature's storehouse.
Nature seems to hold hidden riches within her grasp, and makes us wonder what forces are yet undiscovered, and who will be the discoverer.
The real question of the hour is one of finance. When we see large fortunes melting away as snow under a summer sun, we may well stop and ask the reason. Men say politics and finance are too much for the women. Well, and too much for many men. There are many issues, all of which operate as factors in this experience, which seems to be a consequence rather than a cause. National unity is necessary to national preservation, a patriotic duty; and sectional interests must be subservient to the best interests of the whole.
Now is the time for statesmen to show their superior ability in grasping the vexed questions bringing order out of disorder and harmony to all sections.
Have we thought of the effect upon Chicago when the White City shall have been swept away? When the magic wands that have turned Jackson Park into fairyland shall wave the wand and this vision of loveliness disappear; when the scene shall become as the memory of a beautiful dream, a sentiment; will the lagoon return to the swampy marsh? Will the waves of Lake Michigan lave a forgotten shore? Will the sands ever blow in unfettered freedom? Will the prairie flowers bloom again unseen? No; the vision goes with us. Could Columbus take a glance at fair Col- umbia, the peerless, the "gem of the ocean," he, at least, would pronounce it a fitting memorial.
WOMEN AS POLITICAL ECONOMISTS. By MRS. BRAINERD FULLER.
Those of you who have come from homes within sound of the Pacific's surf, or from within hearing of the Atlantic's angrier waves, from the North or from the South, must have been impressed all along the route with the evidences of our present civilization. You saw cities lying here and there with their spires, their stately buildings and their warehouses of every kind and description; you observed railroads winding in and out in all directions; you noticed the surface of great artificial water-ways and mighty rivers alive with commerce.
Seeing the marvels, standing as we do this morn- ing in the midst of this accumulated mass of witnesses to a civilization which we know has progressed slowly and by stages from out the haze enveloping the primi- tive life of man into the full blaze and meridian glory of to-day, I am asked, as I frequently am, why I, a woman, have selected for the subject of my talk so broad and difficult a subject as political economy, you can readily understand why I reply in the good old Yankee fashion of answering one question by propos- ing another:
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MRS. BRAINERD FULLER.
"What is political economy, and why should I not study it?"
And then, as it often happens, when I am obliged, as the Irishman said, to sustain the dialogue alone, I go on to remark that political economy is nothing more nor less than the "art of getting the nation's living." It is the science that inquires how these conditions that we find here have been developed, how all these enjoyable things that surround us have been produced? In other words, it is the study of the economic forces that maintain the life of the social organism.
There are certain phrases in use which very often appear to suggest that great perplexity of mind must be experienced in order to fully master their meaning. Unfor- tunately, political economy is such an expression. And " women as political econo- mists " sounds to some more appalling still. In the limitations of language I know of no better phrases to convey the desired meaning than these which I have mentioned. All they need is simplifying, and this we have just done with "Political Economy." Let us now see what we can make out of " women as political economists." Let us find out why they are pushing their way into the realms of science.
Writers, in their treatises on general economics, usually divide their books into four parts, and these divisions are, as you remember, " Production," under which head we ascertain how wealth is created; "Exchange," or the transferring of goods from one to another; "Distribution," and I think this part particularly interesting, because it discusses the share each one receives of what is produced-it treats of what you get,
Mrs. Brainerd Fuller is a native of Middletown, Conn. Her parents were Norman L. Brainerd and Leora Campbell Brainerd. She was educated at Miss Payne's Young Ladies' Seminary, Middletown, Conn., and has traveled in Great Britain, Continental Europe, Canada, and to some extent in the United States. She married Samuel R. Fuller. Mrs. Fuller is a delightful and charming lecturer and contributes many articles to the press. She is a member of the Protestant Episcopal Church. Her postoffice address is No. 960 Delaware Avenue, Buffalo, N. Y.
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of what I get, and of what cach of us ought to get. The fourth division is " Consump- tion," which has been wisely defined as " the end of all production."
Now, I argue that, inasmuch as it has always been conceded that women shall look after the distribution and consumption of the private economy, why may she not at least look into the national economy? She only broadens and extends her inter- ests in doing so. Having served a long term in the administration of family econom- ics, I take that fact to be presumptive evidence that women are natural born polit- ical economists. The very least they can do is not to push the subject away from them as too difficult, too dry to be annoyed with. On the contrary, it includes topics of vital importance to every woman in the land. The social and economic life of a nation very materially affects women. Social laws, customs and conditions decidedly influence the home life of every girl and woman; they control all things a woman holds most dear. Hence a study of, and an interest in, the civilization in which she lives should be neglected by nonc.
In this comparatively new field of work I have found that certain ideas invariably pop up on all sides for argument and discussion. People naturally enough look about them with searching gaze when women undertake anything unusual. Women them- selves often say to me that they have never heard of any women political economists in history. It is true that they have not read of any such, that is, as we understand the term political economist. In regard to the economic life of the past, the annals of history are, indeed, wellnigh vacant. The pages of history are heroic with the deeds of warriors, heavy with the smoke of battle, brilliant with marching and coun- ter-marching armies, glittering with the rise and tarnished with the fall of many dynastics.
This department of sociology certainly does have more to do with ourselves than many other branches of knowledge. Therefore, we feel there must have been causes that account for the small role which political economy has played in the drama of history. There were such causes, as we shall see, if we take the trouble to seck them.
At the outset we discover that one influence felt by the historians has been " the knowledge that dramatic incidents make more impressions on the minds of readers than dissertations upon the more hidden forces that operate just as effectively in the national organism. Dramatic incidents make more impression on the minds of the historians themselves." " Certain epochs excite and certain lives impress the dramatic sense. Both furnish a wide scope in which the genius of the author can exhibit itself. Yet there are causes more potent still which have confined the historic muse ever within sight of the nodding plumes of knights and within the hearing of the ' clash of resounding arms.'"
These more influential reasons lie in the fact that two conditions must be fulfilled before historians can to any extent write of the economics of their days. The first requisition, says one author, certainly is that social phenomena must be exhibited on a sufficiently extended scale to supply adequate matter for observation; consequently for the recording of such observations, and after social phenomena are provided, his- torians or writers must be trained for their tasks. Dr. Ingram believes, as he says, "Sociology requires to use for its purpose theorems which belong to the domain of physics and biology, and which sociology must borrow from its professors. On the logical side the methods which sociology has to employ-deductional, observational, comparative -- must have been previously shaped in the cultivation of mathematics, in the study of the inorganic world, or of organisms less complex than the social organism.'
We must never forget that scientists base their theories on the fact that society is an organic whole, and each individual is a member of the same. Hence it is plain that, although some laws or tendencies were undoubtedly forced on men's attention in every age, yet it is also plain that really scientific sociology, including political economy, must be the product of a very advanced stage of intellectual development.
Accepting these reasons for the silence of historians in regard to economics, we are not so much inclined to blame them for their seeming shortcomings.
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Today all is changed. The exigencies of our times demand that the social and economic conditions receive more and more attention. Today philosophers are rising to the emergencies of their environment.
The environments of the past did not develop political economists, and it is true that in bygone civilization we discover no women distinguished for their theories of wealth or their speculations upon the production, distribution and consumption of wealth. But have we no records of women who left the impress of their influence upon the times in which they lived? None who were interested and versed in the social conditions of their country, and in kindred topics? Were there none who exhibited ability to grapple even with the affairs of state? Who will say that that beautiful Egyptian queen of the Ptolemaic dynasty was not a successful ruler? Was not her kingdom, in spite of her grievous faults, prosperous during her reign? Were not the politics of Athens once shaped and guided by Aspasia? Did not the giant intellect of Socrates bow to her? Coming nearer and more clearly into the light of our own times, we behold Elizabeth Tudor, a sovereign, reigning as sovereigns have rarely reigned-by the sovereignty of her own intellect and nature; and Maria Theresa, mother of emperors! Did these have no thought for, no comprehension of, the prob- lems of their day?
Lacking scarce three months of being one hundred years ago this very time, the tall, elegant figure of a white-robed woman was passing from out the gray, grim gates of the Conciergerie. The preparations at the guillotine were speedy. The breezes of distracted France played but briefly with the dark, beautiful hair. The figure in white murmured, "O Liberta, comme on t'a jouèe!" and the bloodthirsty fishwomen from the San Antoine, who, like harpies, sat " knitting, knitting, counting dropping heads." Tell me, was not the lovely Roland in her day a power, a factor in that civilization for which she lost her life? I am well aware that it may be argued that these women, celebrated in history, have reigned and influenced through their personal attractions. To an extent this is true, but they maintained their distinctive power through their intelligence. A woman may attain her ascendency through personal charms, beauty, and that wonderful, subtle thing, called fascination; but she must maintain her sway through her mentality, her intelligence. None can depreciate the potency of physical beauty; few can resist its seductive spell. All lament its ephemerality. But add to beauty of person, to fascination, strength of intellect, and then you discover the secret of the deep and lasting influence of these " Beacon Lights of History." These women I have just mentioned were not political economists, but they were women who, had they lived today, would of necessity have become such.
So much for the past. What of the present?
The spirit of progress is abroad. It is advancing with rapid strides. We who are living in the twilight of the dear, old nineteenth century, see-we must see, whether we wish or not-that women are being pushed by the trend of the times out into a broader sea of life and responsibility. Great responsibilities are hurrying toward us. They will soon be ours, and I would have American girls add to their world-acknowl- edged beauty, their charms and fascination, an intelligent ability to meet these new responsibilities. This can only be done through a familiarity with political economy. If we are, as has been recently asserted, " on the verge of a decisive conflict between the conservative and destructive forces"; if the "safety and the perpetuity of our civ- ilization is menaced "; if mighty problems, greater than any that have shaken our beloved country since the days of slavery, are crying for solution; if amid scenes of æsthetic splendor the shadow of an impending danger falls, if the drums beat, if your city is encircled with the gleam of bayonets, as my Buffalo during the great railroad strike within a year has been, if a conflict of ideas and principle is waged at your door, then I ask have women no desire to inquire into the whys and wherefores of such occurrences ?
Sometimes the social problems are less noticeable than at others. I do not con- tend that a knowledge of the theories of political economy will settle such troubles.
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But I do say that an observance of and study of the economic forces that have been developed, especially in the last one hundred years, give a clearer comprehension of present phenomena and their causes.
To trace the feeble beginnings of the economic life of man through the period of barter and exchange shows us how money came into use. To follow money into our own intricate financial and credit system will give us some idea of the difficulties that beset our nation and Congress today. It is by the study of the sinipler and car- lier national organisms that we come to better understand ourselves. To inculcate in her sons the noble passion of patriotism by means of her own knowledge of national conditions is a work for the American mother more glorious than that accomplished by the women of Sparta. If there are any present who fear that in developing our girls and women into political economists, or in the broader education which teaches them somewhat of national conditions, that we are in danger of having tlie devoted wives and mothers swept away, I beg such to remember that human nature is not going to change simply because women have some knowledge of "tlie art of getting the nation's living." Whatever woman's occupation is, whatever she thinks about, she will always be a woman at heart. Believe me, in the coming days of the twentieth century, if we should see political economists among our girls and matrons, we will find the song of love still the same, "old, and yet ever new, and simple and beautiful always." The stalwart American youths will fall in love, and gentle American maid- ens will reciprocate the passion none the less fervently than in the older days when political economy was unheard of, and when " Priscilla rode out through the heat and the dust of noonday to the home of John Alden, her husband." Then as now, the highest responsibility, the noblest function of woman, the most potent feeling that dominates her being will be motherhood. This is not going to change in the heart of a single woman political economist. No, though she will become a deeper thinker, a more potent factor in national life than either Madame Roland or Elizabeth Tudor. In the coming time, as now, woman will retain her old place at the side of man, but a better companion, a better counselor, and as truc a friend and wife. You may rest assured that the stars will shine upon our fair and prosperous land, and Liberty, not only glorified as she is today in the figure of woman, but proclaiming to the world the increased patriotism of the American woman, will still stand guard in that beautiful harbor of the "Empire State," while gentle Motherhood will rock the cradle then as now of the children of the Nation sleeping at her feet.
INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION OF THE LAST CENTURY. By MRS. ELIZA STOWE TWITCHELL.
It is estimated by those who have studied the subject, that the advance which the world has made industrially within the last one hundred and fifty years, is greater than that of the previous two thousand. And when we remember how many very important scientific discoveries and labor-saving inventions have been given to the world since 1870, it is perhaps not too much to say that the industrial advance which the world has made within the last twenty or thirty years is equal to the previous one hundred and fifty.
It is always difficult to understand our own times. We live too near to view them broadly. We scarcely appreciate our friends, until the grave has hidden them from us; and our men and women of genius must be dead fifty years, before the world attains to their clear breadth of vision, even by the aid of the desperate, thankless struggle they make to show the world "the things that belong to its peace." To take a glance of the past and (then) compare it with the present, is often helpful in gaining a broader view of our own times.
The year 1776 is a very easy one to remember, in that it witnessed two great events: Our Declara- tion of Independence, and also the publication of MRS. ELIZA STOWE TWITCHELL. Adam Smith's great book, "The Wealth of Nations." This book is illumined on almost every page with two great thoughts: First. As our declaration affirms, each man's right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, i. e., civil liberty; and second. Each man's right to exchange the result of his own labor in any market where he pleases, i. e., free trade, or industrial liberty. Within ten years from the publication of the book, four great inventions were given to the world: James Watt invented the steam engine, Hargreaves the spinning jenny, Arkwright the water frame, and Cartwright the power loom. These four inventions, together with the fact that about that time coal was used in place of wood in smelting iron ore, making iron both cheap and abundant, revolutionized all industry, and made, in less than a century, Great Britain the work-shop of the world. In order to clearly understand the effects which these inventions produced, it will be necessary to form a picture of the condition of society before this time. The aristocracy then constituted the most important class; they obtained their revenue from the rent of their large estates, which centuries before had possessed but little or no value, and were given in most cases to their ancestors for bravery in battle. There were two advantages which they possessed over the others: First, as chief owners of the soil,
Mrs. Eliza Stowe Twitchell was born at Jamestown, N. Y., January, 1845. Her parents were natives of Worcester, Mass. In addition to a common-school education she spent three years at Waterford Academy and three at. Lake Erie Seminary, graduating from the latter in 1867. In 1874 she married Edward Twitchell, of Boston, residing in Boston until 1891, then located at Wollaston Heights, one of its suburbs. In society, for its social features merely, she was never especially interested; church, benevolent societies, flower missions and day-nurseries received her thought and attention. Books were her delight; the public library to her a continual feast, which aided by Miss Ticknor's "Society for Home Study," established mental discipline of a superior order. Two tracts, "Justice not Charity," and " Wealth and its Factors," are among her best writings. Her postoffice address is Wollaston Heights, Mass.
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