The daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1873-1877, 1874-08-19
THE NONSENSE OF 1T.
Short Answers to Common Objections.

. /. "THe polls are not decent places for
,conlen." No place is decent from which
women are excluded Shall we exclude
women from the cars, because the ear is
apt to be dirty place? When a man
takes his wife and daughters into the car ii
brings decency. 1t will be the same at the
polls.
2. "P6tittcs are necessarily corrupting. y
Then why not advise good men, as well as
good women, to quit voting?
3. Women are sufficiently represented
already, through their influence on men.
Then why was it that the Common law Of
England, (Which Lord Brougham called &
disgrace to any heather nation" so far AZ
it related to woman prevailed almost uni
versally until the "Woman's Rights agi-
tation began, twenty five years ago? 1t
was not till women began to talk about the
ballot that any changes began to be made
in the laws; and they have no security
against the repeal of those improved laws
except the ballot in their hand.
A. If ,oonsen uoted, at ,oould dioide fam
lies" But families and nations have quar-
relied twice as much over religion as oyel
politics, ever since the world began. II you
allow women to choose their own religion,
why not their own party
5. Women aoou1d only uote rs their has-
bands or fathers do. Many women have nc
husbands and no living fathers. II they
have, and vote as these men do, no harm
would be done. If they vote differently
as they are very likely to do on questions
of temperance, religion, and the right to
control their own property or their own
children then this objection falls to the
ground.
6. "The best momen wW not yote. "
viii they not? Then they are truly not
the best women Women who are really
conscientious will shrink their duty
when the time comes, deperd upon IT,
7 "THe most refined ,comen lctU not vote. y
Many of the most refined women whom
the land has produced have gone as mis-
sionaries, taught schools for freedmen, Wis,
tied the Five Points in New York, entered
INC bar-rooms to persuade their husbands
away, or tended hospitals during the war.
Refinement that takes the place Of con
science is weakness, not strength.
s. Bad ,oOmen ucW r0te" They may
and will vote, at bad men vote. But they
will not vote in the open character of bad
women for vice in women, by instinct
and policy, conceals itself and passes un-
der another name. The worse women are,
the more stikingly they will counterfeit
virtue, when they come to vote rely upon
it.
g. 81 should not ,oish to hear my acite
speak IN torn meeting" Nor would she
like to hear you, unless you said some
thing worth saying. But you are often
willing to pay other men wives to sing in |
public and If a woman may properly up
hit her voice to sing nonsense, why not to
speak sense2"
10. 1T ,oiH turn tconea into men"
Happily you cannot do that 1t is be |
cause women, after all, are different from
men that we deny the right of men to rep
resent them, make laws for them, Judge |
them in court, and spend their tax money |
If they are the same with men, they have
the same rights if they are distinct from
men, they need the ballot to make laws
cor themselves. Take which view YOU
please, 1t comes to the same thing. /
II. Il ,conlGa ,cho takes proper care
q her household has no time to L5,o,c anu
thing about politics. Why not say, "A
man who properly supports his household
has no time to know anything about poli- !
ucs Men are apt TO claim that their
own day work is harder than that of their
wives. '0''
u. T0lutcS tte btyOBd The Sphere Of,
ioomea. That is always the excuse for ,
excluding a distrancEised class. Ban.
croft says the original charter of Delaware
put the government into the hands of
royal council, on the ground that politics
he beyond the profession of merchants"
30 the agents who came out with Sir Ed
ward Andres to take away the liberties of
the New England Colonies wrote back. in
great contempt, 1t is pleasant TO behold
poor cobbfers aud pitiful mechanics. who
have neither house nor land, strutting and
making 10 mean figure at their elections"
NOW the merchants and mechanics have
the ballot, aud il is only women against
up
Is. III ,rR tnd 2, such DANGEROUS n.
t5ildcy bet,ceeit he seres In an oriental
country physician eau Gully prescribe for
a woman by feeling the p1lse IN an arm
thrust from behind a curtain Eut as no
political intimacy wouid txc,.e,i Ira, ,yb;sh
already exists or pay exit betwo,,, ILa
physician and his rstlents. the clergyman a
and his parishioDers. the schuol suIerm.
ienden, aud his teachers, the merchant and .
has book keepers, the mill owner and his !
operatlVes-the objection is idle Ii you I
honestly prefer Turkish institutions, go .
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