New-York tribune. [volume], May 27, 1900, Page 14, Image 42

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14
PETTICOAT INFLUENCE.
THB GREAT POWER FOR GOOD THAT IT
HAS EXERCISED ON MODERN STATES.
"The woman whom Thou gayest to be with
me, she gave me of the tree and I did eat." It
was thus that Adam endeavored to excuse him
self in the eyes of the Almighty for having
tasted the forbidden fruit of the Tree of Knowl
edge, and this Biblical story, which has its
counterpart in the sacred writings of almost
every existing creed and form of belief, is re
called to mind by the articles which are now
being published in England ascribing all the
mistakes and disasters that characterized the
early stages of the South African war to petti
coat Influence. From time immemorial there
has always been a certain degree of association
I. tween Mara and Venus. Bui one is tempted
t> ask whether there is not just a trill.- ton much
of the old Adam In holding women responsible
for every weakness that has been laid bare in
the military system of Great Britain since the
outbreak of the conflict with the Transvaal.
The general public in this country have no
idea of the extent to which the fair svx in the
I'nited Kingdom arc being assailed just at the
present moment, and one important London
paper, which in popularly believed to be owned
by Cecil Rhodes, and to be inspired by its former
editor, George Wyndham, now Under Secretary
of State for War, goes so far as to state editori
ally that the denunciation by John Knox of the
"monstrous regiment of women " was "by far
the happiest utterance" cf that vigorous divine.
The paper goca on to add that in the same way
as the women of his day were a barrier to the
regeneration of his country, petticoat Influence
to-day is not only responsible for every defect
of the British War Department and of the Eng
lish Army, but likewise an obstruction to its im
provement — an obstruction which demands im
mediate removal. Finally this article concludes
by the solemn declaration that "there has never
been a moment when feminine Influence was
more greatly dominant at the War < Mfice in
Pall Mall than at present."
Yet petticoat influence is nothing new, nor
is the British army the only one where it is
dominant, and there is something peculiarly dis
respectful, not to say disloyal, in thus denounc
ing the role which woman is asserted to play in
the military affairs of Great Britain, when it is
borne in mind that Qu.-en Victoria has for more
than sixty years past figured at the head of the
roster of the English army as its chief. Petti
coat influence, in fact, predominates all the
world over, and although it is constantly being
denounced, sometimes by tlp.se who have been
vanquished thereby, and on other occasions by
weak vessels who endeavor to saddle it with the
burden of their own mistakes, yet it always sub
sists, as it has subsisted from the beginning of
the world, and is stronger than ever at the close
of the nineteenth century.
TWO GREATEST EMPIRES UNDER WOMEN.
The two greatest empires, comprising between
them some seven hundred million human beings,
arc subject to the powerful, and assuredly pre
dominant, influence of two aged women, one of
them Queen Victoria, who has exercised that In
fluence for more than sixty years, while the
other Is the Dowager Empress of China, who for
at least four decades has ruled the. so-called
Middle Kingdom with a rod of iron. No one will
dream of questioning the extent of the influence
exercised by these two old women, and while
the progress of Great and Greater Britain un
der the beneficent rule of Queen Victoria has
been altogether phenomenal, China is certainly
no worse off to-day, but, on the contrary, is in a
NEW-YORK TRIBUNE ILLUSTRATED SUPPLEMENT.
far superior position to what she was forty
years aso. when the Empire was rent asunder
by the Taipingr Rebellion, while not only Canton,
the southern capital, but even Peking, the '"For
bidden City," was occupied by foreign troops,
and the Summer Palace of the rulers of the
Celestial Empire was given over to plunder and
to fire. if China still preserves to-day her in
d< pendence and has not succumbed to the at
tacks of the various foreign Powers it is mainly
due to the statecraft of the old Empress, who
has defeated in turn the cleverest diplomats
that the Western nations have sent to Peking,
while if she has dealt harshly with the so-called
Reform party, it is because she is shrewd
enough to introduce Western innovations, not
with a rush, but slowly and with care, after
having convinced both herself and her people
that they will prove to the advantage of China,
and not to its detriment. Her recognition of
the Roman Catholic Church as one of the State
religions of the Empire; her acceptance of the
presentation of a Bible from Protestant mission
ary societies; her action in intrusting the n.ost
important administration of the Empire to an
Irishman, in the person of Sir Robert Hart, who
for thirty years has been at the head of the
Imperial customs, and her recent decision to re
move the great wall of China as an obstruction
to trade and as us. -less f..r defence all go to
indicate that she is a woman far less reaction
ary and bigoted than is asserted.
In ord.T to realize what the destruction of the
great wall by dynamite means, it must he under
stood that its earliest sections w.re built .".,:;<><>
years before Christ, and that It was completed
about two hundred years before His appearance
on earth. It, therefore, took thirty centuries
to build, and has been the pride of the Mongo
lians of countless generations.
It had become part of their religion, and had
the suggestion of its destruction come from a
foreigner the Chinese people would have risen
tia one man to call for his blood. But the de
INTERIOR OF HAMILTON FISH PARK GYMNASIUM.
THE NORTH EXEDRA OR RESTING PAVILION, HAMILTON Vl^ll PARK.
cisioa emanates frcm the Dowager Empress of
China, and no one dares to dissent, an interest
ing and striking object lesson being thus fur
nished by her Chinese Majesty of China's tran
sition in a few years from superstitious stag
nation to practical progress, and to sure if slow
d» velopmenL
RUSSIA'S PETTICOAT INFLUENCE.
For the last three reigns petticoat Influence
ha.* predominatt d in Russia, and the country has
been vastly benefited, instead of injured thereby.
It was in thr salon of Princess Yourieffska, the
morganatic wife of Alexander 11. that tK
stitution with which that Czar proposed to ear
dow his people was drawn up, being signed
there on th" moraine of the day that ho was
blown to pieces by the Nihilists. In feet, .t
was his assassination alone whi h prevented
Russia from being endowed to-day with the
same form of popular government as ether
European countries. His ir« i.vi >n of the serfs
seventeen years earlier was largely attributable
to the Influence ol his tirst wife, the Hi ss'an
born Czarina Marie. To the influence which
the present Empress-Mother exercised ovei h-r
husband, Alexander 111. Russia is Indebted for
the peace which it enjoyed throughout his reign,
for the purity of its Court, and for th.' example
given of domestic happiness and sterling hon
.'sty in public, as well as in private life.
N<> on.- doubts the Influence of yueen Vic
toria's favorite granddaughter, the present
Czarina, upon Emperor Nicholas, and the lat
ter" s efforts in behalf of peace, his avowed de
termination to remain at all costs on friendly
terms with England, to a syndicate of whose
people he has just intrusted the management
and deveJ tpment ol ,s.«hm> square miles of his
private domains, and his liberal and humane
reforms are mainly due to the happy influence
of his consort, who. though born a German
Princess, was reared in England and still talks
every language except English with a foreign
accent. She Is a woman of great b
strength of character and ta • .
progressive ideas and with a r.oom f
for everything that is unjust. . .s and
mean. Her husband Is devoted to her— too
much ro to suit the views of some of his pan-
Slav advisers— and. though nominally an aut>
crat, he has far less absolute power thaa
that with which he is credited. Yet he may be
relied upon as long as he lives to yield to th«
rule and enlightened influence of his consort
Petticoat influence has assuredly never doneasy
harm to Russia. On the contrary, she owes
much — far more than people imagine — to !*r
Emprcast.il. since even the d .
the Great contributed materially to the
tton of the Empire from a
into a civilized Power.
To the late Empress of Au>
largely indebted for its bOBBC • I
as a virtually independent king I >
Austria only by dynastic I
Magyar patriots railed t
means ol fighting of the a
acter Enzabeth secured for I
years after her marriage thr
Of her influence oa the Err.;.- r
risers, a fact la which Francis Joseph has 60:22
frequent anil eloquent witness. And it U life
wise to her personal intervention that the Aus
tro-Hungarian army is indebted fur the abolitioa
of those punishments of a eorp>>r.il character,
especially the terrible running of the ganjH
which were as frequent as they wore degrade
until she rersuatled her consort to forbid ties*.
Neither Austria nor Hungary car. therefore
ever complain of having suffered from femis:"
influence. On the contrary, they have at &
time benefited thereby, since even in the last
century the Hapsburg Empire attained ti*
climax of its grandeur under Maria Thu ■
rorL'LAKITY OK QUEEN ■ -.iIKKIT-V
Foreigners can scarcely realize the extent ■
which Kins Humbert is indebted to the popular
ity of his charming consort for his presence «
the throne. It would be ridiculous ti> altes? |
that the Italian people as a whole are loyal t 1
the House of Savoy, which can rely only «P*
the allegiance of its former kingdom oi ?*»
mont. Klsewhere Republican sentiments *
else affection for the former dynasties prev<t-
But no matter what his sentiments toward i--
King and toward his hoir. every Italian has*
good word to say for Queen Margherita. t&*
too. in spite of the fact that she is general:
credited with having, through the assistance ••
her mother, the widowed I>uch*ss of Genoa. »»
ter of the present King of Saxony, brought Kl^
Humbert Into the Triple Alliance with the *
Ject of assuring the succession of her only *-
to the throne. Perhaps the prettiest proof £
the hold which Queen Marshenuv has on t-
hearts of the Italian people, both at home as- ,
abroad, is the fact that the emblem of the -**
redenta" and of the other societies which to
for their aim the reunion of th.- Italian ap*** I
ing provinces of Austria to the Italian kin*** 1
is that particular flower which bears the ■•*
of Queen Margherita.
Of the influence Which the present Men** 3
Empress exercises over her husband l have w^
quently written in these letters. It has &*;*
of the happiest character, as concerns not os-.
the Kaiser hliailf but also the German ****
It Is to her that ■ due the extraordinary^ J
llgious revival that has taken place throuS-*^
the length and breadth of the Kmpire d'-^
the last twelve years, and '.:' to-day & tt3
fashionable and philanthropy regarded a*
most certain road to Imperial favor. It is . ",,, \
to August* Victoria. So happy, indeed. & :
Influence which she exercises over her *■■"' J
what impulsive and hotheaded husband that I"
constitutional advisers, his family and fek 5^ |l
Jexta till entertain a certain amount *>' •"2
henslon and even anxiety as to what he \ \
do or not do when she is not by his * Je )i3 B
temper his impetuosity, hi soothe his Irrita 1 *-