THE CONGRESS OF WOMEN.
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only wish is that if the disguise of man’s clothing would open woman’s eyes to her own importance and responsibility in the financial world, I shall not object, but I doubt it. Strange as it may seem coming from a business woman as I am, I do most emphatically assert that woman is the most inconsistent of God’s creation. There are women who by inheritance of stock in the great industries and banks of this age might wield a power far more telling, far more vital than anything politics could give, yet they never think of asserting the rights they already have. I shall not take your time in giving a recapitulation of history as to the wealth and power of our revered maternal ancestors. The pages of ancient and modern history teem with the facts and you may read if you will.
It is my purpose to talk of woman as I find her today, good, honest, earnest and inconsistent! First let us look at the matter of banks and bank stock. Did it ever occur to you that a very large portion of bank stock in the United States is owned by women? Did it ever occur to those women that they have a vote and voice in the direction and management of a work far more important than the election of a Kansas Senator or a Ward politician? True, there are some women who are holding offices in banks. I met the vice-president of a Texas bank and in a conversation upon her duties learned that she always signed papers when brought to her even though she stopped her bread-making or any other household duties to do so; but as to any knowledge of the securities held, money, markets, etc, she had none further than that her money was in the bank’s business and she was notified regularly of the dividends, and had money to use as she chose. But as to whether the dividends were larger or smaller than any preceding year she could not say. Some day that woman will be notified that her stock is not drawing any dividends, then maybe she will look after her interests and exercise her right to the ballot. Men are willing to grant woman all the rights she may have in the financial world, yet they look upon her as a^legal prey if she persists in remaining ignorant in matters pertaining to her property and prosperity. Nowhere in the business world is woman more applauded than in this department of economics, and nowhere is she more swindled and wheedled out of her property than right here. As I before stated there is no sentiment in finance, but there is commendation to the successful, be that person man or woman. In Suffolk County, Va., two-thirds of the bank stock is owned by women, yet there is but one bank officer a woman, as far as can be learned, and many of these women do not know how to draw a check and cannot discover the difference between a dividend and an assessment and would be as pleased over a notice of one as the other until better informed. Who votes the shares of stock owned by women, do you ask? Some man who by proxy votes as best suits his purpose, and attends to her loans and interests as is most profitable to himself.
A rather amusing story is told of one of the wealthy' women of St. Louis, whose husband, tired of attending to her dressmakers’ and milliners’ bills, decided to give her an account at a bank, so she might attend to these affairs herself. So he handed her a bank book with the account opened, and a good round sum at her credit, also a check book, and told her to pay her bills by checks; shortly after he was notified that his wife’s account was overdrawn at the bank. He called her attention to the fact and was assured it could not be. She brought him the check book, saying: “See, there are several checks yet I have not used.” Is it any wonder that money left in the hands of such a woman is soon mismanaged by some man who sees her ignorance. Woman suddenly finds herself in possession of money, by reason of death of her husband or father, and unless she is on the alert, it will soon be dissipated by bad management. Life insurance has made woman rich, and lawyers have profited by her ignorance in financial matters. The judge of the probate court in one of the counties of New York gives a most startling statement of his observation on the bench. It is this: Eighty per cent of the money left to widows and children in that county during his term of office was dissipated by mismanagement. Women left with money are looked upon as legitimate prey 7 by a class of men who have over their office