Litchfield enquirer., 1867-06-13
FEMALE SUFFRAGE.


 mons, MT Mill moved an amendment to the Representation Bill, embodying the principle of female suffrage, which he said was logical consequence of the constitu- tional maxim that taxation and representa- tion should go hand in hand. Women, he asserted, in old times had been allowed to vote for some counties and boroughs, and as to the argument against 1t, they had no foundation except in the feeling of strange ness. He went on to say:
 ''Strangeness, however, was thing which wore of. Some thing were strange to many of them three months ago which which were not so now; and many others were strange now which would not be so in few months hence. We lived in 8 world or novelties, the despotism ot custom was on the wane; and he was bound to suppose that in that House the appeal lay from GUS tom to higher tribunal i'll which reason was judge. The reasons which custom was in the habit of giving for itself on this question were commonly expressed in in terjections which 1t was not easy to refute But it was said that politics were not wo- mans business, and would distract them from their duties, that women did not de- serve the suffrage and would rather be with out 1t; that women were sufficiently repre- sented by the representation of their male relatives and connections, and that women fhad power enough already. Laughter l Politics were not mans business unless he happened to be paid for attending to them, or was member of either House of Parliament. The few hours occupied by the majority of male electors in attendine 8 polling booth once in few years did not make them neglect their shops or counting houses; those who had votes were not the worse merchants, lawyers, physicians or clergy If none could vote who did not devote nearly all their time to politics, we should have very limited constituency. Indeed, was not Me object of c constituency tue control ofhbose acho made q business ot politics 6g Mose uho did aot2 Those who most pnzed the privilege of voting were usually those who cxcelled in the common affairs of life. The notion that the domes- tic occupations of women were incompati- ble with the keenest interest in national affairs and in all the great concerns of hu manity acas ds futile as MeaDprehension Mat artiSdns aUOuld desert acorkshops and factories y'utey acere taughtto read. He knew there was an obscure feeling, which was ashan
 ed to express itself openly, that women had no right to care about anything but how they should become the most useful and devoted servants of men, but no mem Der of that house would share this feeling. The notion that one half the human race existed for the supposed benefit of the oth- CT half, independently of its justice, appear ed to be silly. Mental cultivation was necessary for women. because it required brains to use practical experiences; and brains even without practical experience, often went further than practical exper- fence without brains. Perhaps it was thought that the special occupations of women were more antagonistic than those of men are to any comprehension of public affairs. Perhaps 1t was thought that those who had the principal charge of the moral education of the future generation of men could not possibly have any opinion worth hearing upon the moral and education al interests of the nation. Perhaps it was though that those, the main business of whose life was the judicious laying out of money so as to produce the greatest results with the smallest means, could not possibly give any lessons to right honorable gentle men who contrived to produce such singu- larly small results with such vast means. lIronical cheers. He felt confidence in the subject which he could not feel if the proposed political change had not been preceded by social change. The idea of hard and fast line between the occupa- tions of men and those of women-the idea of folbidding women to take an inter- est in the things by which men were inter- ested belonged to bygone state of society which lkeptreceding further and further. We talked good deal about political rev olutions; we did not think sufficiently of a social and domestic revolution. Men and women were, for the first time in history, reall each others companions. Our tradi- tlons respecting their proper relation were descended from the time when the lives of the two classes were spent apart when they were separated in their serious occupations and their amsements, when man spent his time among men, when 1t was with them he took counsel on serious matters, and when the wife was either plaything or an upper servant. All that among the educa- ted classes was now totally changed; the man now no longer gave the whole of his spare time to violent outdoor exercises and boisterous copvivialities with male asso- clates. The two classes now passed their lives together; the wife was often the hus- bands most confidential friend and most trusted adviser. Hear, hear Was this companionship compatible with warnin g women of all great subjects? Was it good for man to live perpetually in commun- ion With one who was studiously kept in ferlor to himself whose earthly interests were torclbly confined within the four walls of the house? Could this happen without detaiment to the mans own char acter? The time had come when. if women were not raised to the intellectual level of men, men would be pulled down to the mental level of women. The women of a man s family were either stimulus to his highest aspirations or drag upon them.
 Hear, hear. Women might be kept ig- norant of politics, but they could not be prevented concerning themselves in the least respectable parts of politics-its per sonahties. But the mere want of their sympathy would hang as weight on a mans moral qualities, and would make him un- wllilng to incur sacrifices which they would 1eel' and would induce him to forego social aavantages and successes they would other wlse share, because they could not appre- ciate them. The indirect effect of these tnlngs upon mans own character was not the least deplorable result. It might he sad that women could take an interest in great national concerns without hav;no votes. But how many would? The eir1's thoughts and feelings were toned down in her schooldays, and she took no interest in , national concerns, because they Were to ha no business of hers. Suppose it were the