years of faithful work on lonely fields had resulted; but it was especially to women that the divine summons came to make known both to the church and popularly, through press and pulpit, and to government, the appalling political oppressions and wants of the red man, and to begin the public and importunate plea that he too might be permitted to stand as free as any other man, and be as safe in the "pursuit of life, liberty and happiness."

And now as result of the tide thus started, borne on by many forces, between 20,000 and 30,000 Indians have availed themselves of the privileges of the Dawes Severalty Law and are now free citizens of the United States. One-half the Indian children of the land are already in school, and provision for the rest will surely follow. Of the 250,000 Indians 200,000 are self-supporting by civilized avocations, and the seventy-one military posts, which a few years ago watched and controlled red men, are now reduced to ten. Civil service reform already controls the appointment of matrons, teachers, physicians, superintendents and assistant superintendents, and its spirit will doubtless soon control the appointment of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, and the agents, briefly needed till the prerogatives of citizenship come to all Indians.

The work of appeal for all required funds; of watching against frauds in the further division of lands, and in all the measures needed; of securing the full protection of common law, long due, and the work of sending the truths of God's decreed redemption to the scores of still-waiting tribes, yet remains. In this unfinished labor surely patriotic and Christian women will loyally, promptly and nobly take their just share.

ΤΗ

CHAPTER XXXII.

THE WOMAN'S CLUB MOVEMENT.

BY J. C. CROLY.*

HE growth of the Woman's Club in America is one of the marvels of the nineteenth century, which has produced so many marvels. Beginning as an experiment hardly more than twentyfive years ago, it has grown into a far-reaching and influential movement; not by the external forces it has employed, but by natural aggregation and the universal excellence of the character it developed and maintains. Beginning with a few small groups of quiet women, the interest has grown until it is estimated that there are 500 women's clubs in the United States, with an aggregated membership of not less than 50,000 women.

To properly estimate this advance it must be remembered that previous to this time there were no associated movements among women, outside the church, the suffrage and the anti-slavery cause, and these were combined with, if they were not controlled by men. Puritan influence aided the custom, and traditions of the ages in limiting women to a subordinate place, and keeping them "silent," in and out of the churches.

It is worth noting that the new movement was not in the nature of a revolt, but has been more like an awakening. The Central Club idea carried, with it nothing belligerent-nothing antagonisticnothing in the nature of a demand, or an assertion. Its spirit was simple unity, fellowship of one woman with another on a platform of professed ignorance and sincere desire to know.

The idea met with instant and growing response. It brought

*(Jennie June) Journalist and Author of "Talks on Women's Topics," "Three Manuals of Work," etc.

together women of all creeds-and no creed-women of diverse social position and environment-women of widely differing opportunities and degrees of culture, and made of them an harmonious body, every part of which is enriched by the contribution of each to the whole.

It is a curious fact that without concerted action, without direct means of communication one with another, all the clubs seem to have been animated by one common impulse, viz: the acquisition of knowledge, improvement in methods and the creation of higher standards of social and intellectual life. The story of one in this respect is the story of all, and is really the history of a great inspiration or rather the development of desire among women engaged mainly in domestic duties, for the exercise of mental faculty and the cultivation of a more intimate knowledge of vital questions and issues. This has been accomplished by an equally common determination to avoid those religious and political differences, which separate and antagonize common interests, and to cultivate on broad grounds, the spirit of unity and good fellowship.

This club idea of kinship and unity on the basis of womanhood alone is distinctly modern, at least, so far as any practical exemplification of it is concerned, and its inculcation has created a new social departure, and an active, many-sided social life, before almost unknown. Its glad recognition and acceptance can only be accounted for on the ground of its supplying an almost universally felt want. The hearts and minds of women absorbed in quiet duties had been starved by the meagre food afforded them; and the enlargement fed intellectual desire, and latent mental capacity, whose existence had hardly heretofore been acknowledged.

The results of this broader life have been of far greater importance even now, than could have been anticipated. Studies have been pursued by thousands of women, engrossed by other cares, with an ardor and a thoroughness which justifies the frequent appellation of the club as the "school" of the middle-aged women, as the "university extension" of the home. Knowledge of, and practice in business methods and parliamentary law have been acquired, a wider outlook obtained, and broader points of view from which to consider all subjects, both great and small. Incidentally prejudice has been removed,