The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1893-09-26
ETHICS OF SUFFRAGE
THE EVOLUTION INVOLVED IN WON
ANS USE OF THE BALLOT.

lixation, Health and Happiness ana iss
Mission of Light and sunshine. Mercy.
Peace and Morality.
Ths basic idea of republic is the right
of sell government, the right Of every citi-
zen to choose his own representatives and
to make the laws under which he lives,
and as this right can be secured only by
the exercise OF the right OF suffrage the bal
lot. in the hand Of every qualified person,
constitutes the true political status of
citizen In q republic.
The right of suffrage is simply the right
to govern ones SELF Every human being
is born into the world with this right. and
the desire to exercise 1t comes naturally
with the responsibilities OF life. "The high
est earthly desire Of a ripened mind" says
Thomas Arnold, lis the desire Of taking an
active share In the great work of govern
ment." Those only who are capable Of ap-
preciating this dignity can measure the cx-
tent TO which women are defrauded as citi-
zens of this great republic; neither can they
measure the loss to the councils of the ma
tion of the wisdom of representative women.
When men say that women do not desire
the right of suffrage, but prefer masculine
domination to self government, they falsify
every page of history, every fact Of human
nature.
The chronic condition of rebellion, even
of children against the control OF nurses,
elder brothers, sisters, parents and teachers,
is protest in favor of the right OF self gov
ernment.
The general unrest of the subjects Of
kings, emperors and czars, in secret plot
tinqs or open defiance against self consti-
tuted authorities. shows the hatred OF all
people for governments to which they have
never consented.
But It Is said that on this point women
arc peculiar; that they differ from all other
classes; that, being dependent, they nat
urally prefer being governed by others
The facts Of history contradict the asser-
ton; they show that women have always
been In a state of half concealed resistance
to fathers, husbands and all self consti-
tuted authorities as far as they dared-as
far as good policy permitted them (being
dependents) to manifest their real feelings
1t has taken the whole power of the civil
and canon law to hold woman in the sub
ordinate position which it is said she will
ingly accepts. II woman had no will, no
self assertion, no opinions of her own to
start with, what means the terrible perse-
cutions of the se3 in the pastf
So powerful and mercilcss has been the
struggle to dominate the feminine element
in humanity that we may well wonder at
the steady, persistent resistance maintained
by woman through the centuries. She has
shown all along her love Of individual free
dom, her desire for self government. while
her achievements In practical affairs and
her courage in the emergencies Of life have
vindcated her capacity to exercise this right.
These, one and all. are 50 many protests
against absolute authority and 20 many
testimonials in favor of self government.
and yet this Is the only form of government
that has never yet been fairly tried.
The few experiments that have been
made here and there In some exceptional
homes, schools and territories have only
been partially successful because the sur
rounding influences have been adverse.
When we awake to the fact that our
schools are places for training citizens of q
republic, the rights and duties involved in
self government will fill larger place In
the curriculum of our universities.
Woman suffrage means complete revo-
luton In our government and social life--a
revision of our constitutions It means an
expurgated edition of our statute laws and
codes, civil and criminal. It means equal
representation in the halls of legislation
and the courts Of justice; that woman may
be tried by her own peers-judges and adj
vocates Of her own choosing. It means
light and sunshine, mercy and peace, in our
dungeons, jails and prisons, when the bar
barous idea of punishment shall give place
to the diviner idea of reformation. It
means police matrons in all our station
houses, that young girls arrested during
the night when intoxicated and otherwise
helpless may be under the watchful eyes of
some judicious woman and not left wholly
at the mercy of a male police.
And what does woman suffrage mean in
social lifef Health and happiness for wom-
en- and children; one code of morals for
men and women; love and liberty, peace
and purity In the home; cleanliness and
order In the streets and alleys; good sani-
tary arrangements In the homes of the
poor; morals and manners taught In the
schools
We cannot estimate the loss to the world
in this repression Of individual freedom
and development through childhood and
youth. Woman suffrage means new and
nobler type of men AID women, with mu-
tual love and respect for each other. II
means equal authority in the home, an
equal place in the trades and professions
and equal honor and credit in the world OF
work.
Our civilization today Is strictly mascu-
line. Everything is carried by force and
violence and war and will be until the
feminine element is fully recognized and
has equal power In the regulation of hu-
man affairs. Then we shall substitute Co
operation for competition, persuasion for
coercion.
IL woman suffrage means all this, surely
IL Is the greatest question ever before any
nation for consideration and imperativsly
demands the prompt attention Of the lead
ing minds of our day, and women them
selves must make this the primal question
In their estimation.
The enfranchisement Of woman in Eng
land and America would give new dignity,
self respect and hope to the women of every
nation in the uttermost isles of the sea
The protracted struggle through which
we have passed and our labors not yet
crowned with victory seem to me some
times like painful dream, In which one
strives TO run and yet stands still, incapable
alike Of escaping or meeting the impending