I-
The Omaha
?AET THREE
EDITORIAL
PAGES ONE TO SIX
unday
PART THREE
MAGAZINE
PAGES ONE TO SIX
I
VOL. XLV NO. 37.
OMAIIA, SUNDAY MORNING, FEBRUAKY 27, 191G.
SINGLE COPY FIVE CENTS.
V
Bee
L
Fsk 29ft is ike leap Tfear Ky NJ
"Why Not?" Re
tort Most of the
Women. Still They
Are Careful to Ex
plain that in Their
Own Cases the
Man Popped the
Question : .: :
DO YOU believe In leap year proposals:
Should women propose?
These two questions fired point blank
at Omaha women socially elect, suf
fragists and anti-suffragists, bring vary
ing responses. Some laugh It off, others
refuse to commit themselves, some downrlghtly
pooh-pooh the Ides, while others Just as staunchly
coincide In their views with the fair Ines Mllhol
land Boissevaln, who admits that she had to "pop"
the question three times before her husband would
accept her.
were not quizzed In this Instance. What would
.be the use? You know what they would say for
you can take It from us, unattached females have
too much of Mother Eve or the sphynx or both to
be drawn Into confessing what they really knew
and belleTe on the subject.
"I dont know, I never made one," replied Mrs.
E. M. Fairfield to the first query. Mrs. Fairfield
la chairman of the city central suffrage commit
tee and it frequently referred to as one of the
most beautiful of Omaha suffrag'st. "Bernard
Shaw in his 'Man and Superman,' says they do
that women pursue men and the men. poor things,
are helpless to resist them. I haven't found it so
in my career, however."
Why Wait Till Leap Year?
"If anyone has the inclination to propose, why
vat until leap year any more than any other
vear?' counter Queried Mrs. Draper Smith, ex-
state suffrage president and well known club
woman. "No, I can't conceive of a man asking a
vi oman more than once to marry him, let alone a
woman."
"It strikes me It would be far more dignified
to come right out and tell a man you loved him
rather than to do the " ridiculous things some
women do to attract the men. The way they dress
and act can only be explained by the desire to at
tract attention and thus lead up to a proposal. But
it Is such a radical step In advance of anything
reretofore," remarked Mrs. George Covell, suf
fragist and temperance lecturer. "I wonder if he
was worth it," she continued, In commenting on
Mrs. Bolsaevaln's three-fold proposal. Some
women would be better off If the men dldnt pro
pose to them either."
Mrs. II. C. Sumney, another prominent suf
fragist who Is busily at work heading the antl
splt campaign launched here recently, refused to
be quoted on the burning Issue of the day.
"Oh, such rotl" she exclaimed. "Anyway, I am
engaged In higher pursuits. I am looking down,
not up. My gaze is on the sidewalk only. I cant
even be a suffragist now, I'm so busy on this cam-
VTgn."
Would First Give the Man a Chance
Mrs. E. M. Syfert, president of the Omaha
Woman's club, turned from the telephone and
asked her husband: "Were we married In leap
year, dear?" before she would commit herself. On
receiving a negative reply, "I think I would wait
for the man to propose," said she. "At any rate, I
nmiHn't have the co urate to propose three times
to a man. If he didn't know the first time whether
be cared or not, I wouldn't ask him again. I can't
Imagine a woman who would want to keep com
pany with a man who was too bashful to pro
pose."
"I wasn't married or engaged In leap year
either. Let the man do it." vouchsafed Mrs. Wil
liam Archibald Smith, secretary of the Nebraska
Anti-Suffrage society and regent of one of the
chapters of the Daughters of the American Revo
lution. "I don't believe in these advanced notions
and usurping man's prerogatives. Women are
not Justified In assuming men's places."
"I certainly do not believe in leap year pro
posals. I believe women should be sought after
r!dd!v." was the emphatic declaration of Mrs.
m
F Crofnot an antl-suffraglst and enthusiastic
riembr of the Tuesday Morning Musical clul.
Prefers Oood Old-Fashioned Wooing
Mr. Helen Ai''n Lewis avprred fhe was too
much of an anti .uffragiut to countenance a
woman's proposing. "I believe In the good, old
fashioned wooing. Women should be wooed ahd
should not even put themselves in position to be
asked. Most any young man can overcome his
bashfulness under the circumstances, I believe.
Lota of bashful young men have gotten married, J
notice."
Mrs. Charles T. Kountze, Omaha's recognised
social leader, laughingly evaded the queries. "It's
o long since I thought about It, I wouldn't' say.
Really, I haven't an Idea on this subject"
Mrs. Howard Baldrlge, another of Omaha's
beautiful women and active In all social affaire,
also persistently evaded the quizzing. "I've been
married so ions. Ask the women who have the
right to ask men," she laughed. "Isn't this a per
fectly delightful day, and oh, yes, do you know
about that perfectly delightful visitor who is at
the FontenelleT" and she lead the conversation
Into other channels less committal.
"Why should a woman be barred from show
ing her admiration simply because she Is a woman
and he Is a man?" asked Mrs. Ualleck Rose, prom
inent In the Omaha Society of Fine Arts and also
strong for suffrage. "I see no reason except cus
tom which should make women resign their lives
to fate. At that, the state may some day step In
More Common Sense Needed in the Home
Too Many Good and Brilliant Women Lack Judgment in Dealing with Husbands'
Desire for Variety in Life, Says Ella Wheeler Wilcox
IT Is easy for many women to be brilliant, and
It is easy for others to be good. But it
seems the most difficult thing In the world
for a woman to be sensible.
Genins and virtue are everywhere, but we
search for common sense. Woman Is called a
composite creature, but man Is tenfold more com
posite. When a man has had the whole world cater
ing to everything In his make-up except his love of
virtue be is not to be made abidingly happy with
nothing but that quality satisfied.
He cannot suddenly and permanently change
his whole mental structure. Be satisfied, then. If
your husband gives up the liberties and vices which
tlie world allows a bachelor, but do not ask him to
relinquish the courtesies and recreations which are
every man's privilege.
Drive suspicion from your door and Install con
fidence in its place. Cultivate self-esteem and self
confidence, and think, act, talk and live so sweetly
and lovingly that rivalry is impossible.
Make the new life a holiday, not a term of Im
prisonment. A very good woman who has no
human weakness in her nature is sometimes the
devil's tool to drive men to drink- Every now and
then a world-weary and folly-weary man marries
an Innocent, unworldly and "good" woman.
He wants the sweet home 1'fe be had not In the
paths of pleasure nor In the byways of license. He
wants the unmercenary devotion of a loving
woman, and he wants to walk forth in the broad
light of day, unaiiuait-d, with his wife by his side.
By Ella Wheeler Wilcox
It Is the Inevitable goal of every worth-while
man. The world approves of such marriages, and
the woman feels that she Is Tilling the highest mis
sion of her sex in reclaiming a lost sheep.
But how few such women know the wise middle
course to walk with such a man. It Is all very
well to listen when he tells you he Is happier than
be has ever been in his life before, and that his
home Is dearer to blm than any club on earth, but
It Is far from well If you fall upon his neck and
weep the first time he Intimates that he would like
to drop In at the club and talk with the old chums
for an hour.
This Is the poorest method you could adopt to
convince him of the greater Joys of home. There
Is a certain fascination In a club to most men.
There is danger In this fascination to some men.
When a man sickens of it and wants a home It Is
because he has had nothing but his dub, and be
cause there Is a worthy element In his nature
which calls for something better.
The fact that he should want to visit the old
scene now and then Is not an Indication that he Is
sick of home or that he is wandering from the fold
again.
If the pasture Is sweet and the shepherdess
kind and wise the sheep will not wander far.
If you have married a man who has been over
fond of the fair sex, and If he Is kind and true and
loving, do not stand forever upon the alert, lest he
become disloyal to you. Constant surveillance
never kept a man true. It has made many a man
unfalthfuL
Although your husband may have told you over
and over that you are tenfold more pleasing- to him
than any woman he ever knew before he met you,
that does not signify that he might not like to sit
by some other at a cotillon. It does not signify
that he would not enjoy talking with others whom
be regards less highly than you.
In the association with the women he does not
love a man often most appreciates the woman he
does love. Should he take a seat by some other
woman and converse with her in your presence, do
not act sulky, distrait or injured. That only
makes you ridiculous and unlovable.
Although your Innocence and unworldllness
won your husband from the paths of folly, those
qualities will not keep him at your side unless you
mingle common sense and tact with them.
Absolute loyalty, absolute morality, absolute
honor and cleanliness of life every woman has the
right to ask cf her husband. But to make him a
willing captive should be woman's art, not to make
him a life prisoner and the home a reformatory
and the wife a suspicious warden, always imagin
ing that the prisoner Is planning escape.
The good wife must possess other qualities be
sides goodnesn to make her marriage with a mere
man successful. Common sense and tact must be
two strands of the rope to make it strong enough
to act as an anchor for the domestic ship. The too
good wife relies wholly upon one strand and the
ship breaks anchor. toovrrtt. iti4 ear av)
Champions of
Woman's Right to
Propose Claim
that Right for
Her Not Only
During Leap Year
but Any Old Time
and All the Time
and settle the affairs of the heart for both men
and women by granting or refusing them the
license to 'wed, and," she continued, "the social
conventions which decree that a woman, surrender
the prerogative of proposing marriage to a man
and await supinely the event of being wooed and
won, are Incidents of the Inferior and dependent
social position she has occupied In the past. Leg
islation In America has removed many of her dis
abilities, but social traditions to far dominate
present customs as to leave the prerogative of
proposing where It has always rested: 8 long as
the wife Is regarded as a dependant and her main
tenance Is looked upon as a sort of burden upon
the bounty of her husband. It will doubtless be
thought more seemly and modestly to yield this
privilege, to the dispenser of the bounty. Viewed
In that light, a modest, single woman will hesitate
to make a proposal that Implies the solicitation
of a man's ' bounty. A position of social equality
would bring a woman's proposal within the pro
prieties. The freakish disregard of societ con
ventions during leap year aeems, however, aside
from the point and not in furtherance ot any con
sistent course of evolution."
Girl Can Help the Man to Pop
"I see no reason on earth why if woman
wants to propose, she shouldn't do It In leap year
or any other year. Most any girl can bring about a
proposal and most of them succeed, with the as
sistance of their mothers. In making It dead easy
for a man to propose. Lots of girls are brought up
with that end In view,; was the frank admission ot
Mrs. F. II. Cole. Mrs. Cole's father, however, she
says, brought her up on the doctrine that "He wfro
giveth his daughter In marriage doeth well, but
be who gives not his daughter in marriage, doeth
better." Mrs. Cole Is a civil service reform advo
cate and heads that department of the General
Federation of Women's clubs.
Mrs. George Prlns, earnest art and literature
student and exceedingly popular in social circles,
was deeply engrossed in some thoroughly "high
brow" subject when the question was broached
and she had to come back to this terrestrial sphere
and mundane subjects. "It shouldn't be done. I
believe In the old-fashioned notion that a man
l'.kes to pursue and the woman likes to be pur
sued," she averred.
Dinner Table Debate of the Question
That evening Mrs. Prlns threw a oonversa
tlonal bomb Into a perfectly proper dinner party
by appealing to the other dinner guests oa the
subject.
"My! Wouldn't It be great," exclaimed one of
the dinner guests, an interesting widower.
"The msn would bate it!" differed a bachelor.
One of the matrons at the table thought it
pathetic thst there were so many old maids, splen
did women, who would be happily married per
chance had they exercised the right of choice with
men whom they admired. "Still I wouldn't advise
them to ask the man because, after all, women
like the Idea of having the man ask them to share
wedded bliss."
Another man, still clingtng to single blessed
ness, Insisted that the privilege of proposing be
longed solely to men. It Is whispered that a num
ber of like bachelors suffer In Imminent fear ot
losing their Independence were women to take it
into their pretty heads to propose.
One matron said she was so surprised when
her husband proposed to , her, she couldn't have
been more astounded if a perfect stranger had
popped the question. However, she confessed,
she had had her eye on him all the time and
thought she would be tempted to propose If there
were any danger of his getting away from her.
A "mere man" with whom the subject was dis
cussed, threw up his hands In dismay. " 'Should
women propose?' By all means, if they want to!
If they want to vote, let 'em vote. If they want to
propose, let 'em propose. The dear things will
have the&r own way anyway," quotk bt
