Buchanan County bulletin and guardian. (Independence, Iowa) 1866-1869, 1868-01-17


( yolyiAg extensive and complicated business
arrangements, was.rcaaise1 and carried on
! by woEnen--inany OF them very young wo~
mea-wiihous any sort Of business educa-
! ton, ard belonging to the class in society in
which women, though well educated inteI>
ee.ually, are least likely 20 acquire pTacti
cal experience; and cannot but think that,
since 50 many women are 10 be found eapa>
bic Of doing business, they as class are ca
pable Of sharing with men ii the making of
those laws by which business interests are
regulated. To suppose that women are
nov, as RUE, as competent to vote as men,
u 70 suppose hat they are not merely equa.
to men intellectually, but very much supsr~
or, since men have all the advantage Of that
education for the suffrage which only the
suffrage can give but that women in this
country arc as competent to use this right as
any other body which has never exercised i,
lIf Lot more SOL and thg: they are az caps
bic ef being educated BY the use Of il to use
It with advantage % themselves and others,
| see no'reason to doubt. If it we're cues.
ton Of reversing the present state Of things
taking the vote from men 70 give It 10 wo-
men land the subject is usually discussed Al.
if !. we're the unseuJtel superiority Of the
male sex in physica. strength. and the more
extensive experiences given By their more
active lives, nigh, well lead I'D to pause
bat since it Is merely proposed that instead
Of one sex governing The u.her, both sexes
shall govern both, the essential differences
between the two seem 10 ne an argument
for the change rather than against it.
Bat i is urged, voters are liable 10 be vo-
ted for; aud j. i desirable that women
should leave lie care Of their lomes and
cli.drea FOR seats In the Legislature ct in
Congress J4aot-aiellg i.Ji. Bat there
are aaay men w5ose rl..ssioaal duties pre-.
Ven. them From ta's:ng al ac,ve part In pol
isios, and see no reason Why a woman,
whose dates lie eiseyhere, sho1iI accept a
hou.iaa..ca any rA5re .tan man would il
the same case. There ase many women
~ho have no sAi.asHn and no paramount
family claims. ard. whT should not such wo,
men hold office as ~ell Us men? But igno.
rant aud Incompetent. women all vote. No
doubt; but 50 do ignorant and Incompetent
men. Batincompatcut women wiil be elect
ed very likely; bat are incompetens men
never elected Does not Listcry. land .ha!
Vi recea. date, prove that an incompetent
T-sn, elected BY the male suffrage nay oe-
cassonally find Ais way even into the presi>
cea.s..l c..s.i.? Bat q woman MAJ now and
tLen be elected to 81 olliee waich nigh. have
been better Flied W a man. protablr
bas unless we suppose that there is no of>
.ice In tie g!l. Of the state which mea are
not more competent 70 FL exclusively thar
women - share, the same thing may happen
in the fa.4re. aad uust eoa,insa.ly ha ppeu,
10 the present, with reference to women, AID
hardly see Why s0cie.Y should suffer mere
ia TIE one case than In re other.
haze dwe.. a. some len g,h on the Guess
ton whether or no women are competent TO
vote, because il IS oily On lis ground that
any seEioas argument against the justice Of
the proposed change can be based. Tia:
women have, as class, special Interests re-
quiring protection, cannot be seriously cGes-
tioaed tia, those public questions which
affect the whole community a.fec. them i
se!f-evident and this brings Us at once to
the fourth and last ground on which their
rlgk. 10 vote can be claimed or dsaie3:
Is !, fgr Tie advantage ofr the state tha,
women should no: take an Intelligent and
responsible interest in general questions
IL oiher words, Is lie comm IN iy. as a whole.
il Danger of becoming TOO intelligent and
rational? Fer otherwise, since the great in,
thence which women exercise in the COM
mainly Is unioub.el, the natural conclusion
seems - be tLat 10 educate them as rapidly
as possible ID q responsible and rational ex,
ere.se Of iAis influence IS OF the utmost iaa>
portauce, an! experience las Tr1yel that 10
give ihs Suffrage 10 a class !. tie snress way
10 rai.oaal.ze the individuals who compose
/.
But, say tie opponents cs woman suffrage.
% raiianalize women IS TO deprive them of
those feminine qualities BIZ which their ia>
tlgsaee is maintained, aud society Of the
beaei. which il ieprives from ills Influence
as at rresen. exercised. 4 man dees net
cease 10 be manly by becoming an intelli
gens citizen, therefore a woman cannot be an
intelligent citizen without! ceasing to b. wo>
manly. The logic mas be convincing. ba.
ng feminine miad fails to appreciate its
force. That it Is in aceoratnee With the
eternal LAWS Of Providence that women
should not be . eqsal TO men ia the sense Of
bein- ike men," | NEST earnestly believe,
and have perfect ccustegee that, in this
resrec; as il others, the eternal laws VIII as
sert a.a maintain themselves, that voting
VII 10 n407a Rnsex women than /. VII dis
cHlor negroes. The present system, hy de
p.iving women OF the suffrage and Of those
opportunities for occupation aud education
which men enjoy. tends TO force women of
independence aud character, or whom cir
cumssanees have deprived Of male protect
ors, - choose between an aggressive and
unequal competition with men (which may
ne. develop their n ost feminine qualities
or wasliag IL WEAKNESS aud yexa.ioG of STIR
!: the capacities the Lord gave them. In
oae o. the recent arguments against woman
suffrage, it IS argued ,hat :. the destiny of
the woman is TO rely, to be protected. to har-
monize in society with her attractions the
jarring elements brought BY men from the
stelner and not unfreqaentis eoarssr pussai.s
Of practical lise"-in other words, 10 be Ia
ken care Of BY men and TO make them com
Portable. prefer, myself, the Bible dehai-
ton, aeeording 10 which woman is . q hsl.>
meet" iar man. Efficient le,p is ihaeed a
great comfort, aud the latter definition real
II inclales tae former, but to be made cams
Portable is not always the most efficient help.
To keep mans aims and standard high By
raising hsr own, to stimulate bis intelligence
by contact with hers, t. honor him and be
honored BY him WITH mutual esteem 1
reverence, to share the burdens of his life
ard rely on his support in bearing hers, is
al this inconsistent with true wornsnliless
in women or true manliness in men? Il
hate says Emerson, "wken | loak for
manly torbearanec, or at least a manly re-
s;stanee, 10 find only mush Of concession
Do men never long for woniaaly further
auee a; the price how aud then OF woman
IL resistance, in place Of the mash ot con-
cessioa which they usually demand and re-
ceiye from womankind. A woman may b.
none the less uo,naaly because she knows
her own opinions and Can express them,
Some ct the ger Hest aud most attractive wo.
msn know are among the wisest and most
intelligent, and one of the most feminine
wo:ncn ever rlet wes one with whose in
tellect few men et her generation could stand
ompasison--Mss. Browning, O: whom
Thackeray said that II il was strange to see
that it,le woman AMI thik wha, great
man she was.
The theory that the ehisalrous feeling Of
men toward women must vanish before the
ACKNOWLEDGING of their pol teal equality
that to claim womaus rights is to abandon
women's prisileg 5, naturally follows from
the impression that women will cease to be
women; and, MT expecting the latter resalt,
do not dread the former. History proves
that in the progress Of civilization ehiyalrous
feeling in men has steadily increased in pro-