490
THE CONGRESS OF WOMEN.
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 position 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 Queen 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 Columbia, the peerless, the “ gem of the ocean,” he, at least, would pronounce it a fitting memorial.