information, all the eloquence, and, if they please, all the wit, at
their command when talking over these abuses in society. Let them
state their views, their needs, their demands, in conscientiously
written papers. Let them appeal for aid to the best, the wisest, the
most respected men of the country, and the result is certain. Choose
any one real, existing abuse as a test of the honesty and the
liberality of American men toward the women of the country, and we
all know before-hand what shall be the result.*

{FOOTNOTE by SFC} * There is an injustice in the present law of
guardianship in the State of New York, which may be named as one
of those abuses which need reformation. A woman can not now, in
the State of New York, appoint a guardian for her child, even though
its father be dead. The authority for appointing a guardian otherwise
than by the courts is derived from the Revised statutes, p. 1, title 3,
chapter 8, part 2, and that passage gives the power to the father
only. The mother is not named. It has been decided in the courts
that a mother can not make this appointment--12 Howard's Practical
Reports, 532. This is certainly very unjust and very unwise. But let
any dozen women of respectability take the matter in hand, and, by
the means already at their command, from their own chimney-
corners, they can readily procure the insertion of the needful clause.
And so with any other real abuse. Men are now ready to listen, and
ready to act, when additional legislation is prudently and sensibly
asked for by their wives and mothers. How they may act when
women stand before them, armed CAP-A-PIE, and prepared to
demand legislation at the point of the bayonet, can not yet be
known. {END FOOTNOTE}

If husbands, fathers, brothers, are ready any day to shed their