occupied his position by virtue of his
muscle, of his courage, on account of the facility with which he
wielded a club. As long as nations depend simply upon brute force,
the man, in time of war, is, of necessity, of more importance to
the nation than woman, and as the dispute is to be settled by
strength, by force, those who have the strength and force naturally
settle it. As the world becomes civilized, intelligence slowly
takes the place of force, conscience restrains muscle, reason enters
the arena, and the gladiator retires.

A little while ago the literature of the world was produced by men,
and men were not only the writers, but the readers. At that time
the novels were coarse and vulgar. Now the readers of fiction are
women, and they demand that which they can read, and the result is
that women have become great writers. The women have changed our
literature, and the change has been good.

In every field where woman has become a competitor of man she has
either become, or given evidence that she is to become, his equal.
My own opinion is that woman is naturally the equal of man and that
in time, that is to say, when she has had the opportunity and the
training, she will produce in the world of art as great pictures,
as great statues, and in the world of literature as great books,
dramas and poems as man has produced or will produce.

There is nothing very hard to understand in the politics of a
country. The general principles are for the most part simple. It
is only in the application that the complexity arises, and woman,
I think, by nature, is as well fitted to understand these things
as man. In short, I have no prejudice on this subject. At first,
women will be more conservative than men; and this is natural.
Women have, through many generations, acquired the habit of
submission, of acquiescence. They have practiced what may be called
the slave virtues--obedience, humility--so that some time will be
required for them to become accustomed to the new order of things,
to the exercise of greater freedom, acting in accordance with
perceived obligation, independently of authority.

So I say equal rights, equal education, equal advantages. I hope
that woman will not continue to be the serf of superstition; that
she will not be the support of the church and priest; that she will
not stand for the conservation of superstition, but that in the
east of her mind the sun of progress will rise.

_Question