River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1893-02-09
ALLEN P. WELD, City Clerl
Dare and Do.


Many speakers on the question of equal
franchise have caused their hearers to be-
lieve that with woman suffrage once an
established fact, all woman'S wrongs
would at once be righted; every reform
flourish; all mankind would he at once free
and equal; in short, the millennium would
be with us. Their hearers have misun-
derstood Emerson was right when he
said, what is the statute right to vote to
those who have never dared to think or
act" Thousands of women are ready
now to exercise the right of suffrage be-
cause they have dared to think and act,
but many of their sisters plead slavery to
clothes, furniture or food; to society, bus
mess or culture as an excuse for want of
thought on live questions. Others have
no time;" cut off like flowers they have
been forsaken by time and have not yet
begun to realize the eternity of which
they are part. Some have opinions on
the science of government, but they have
to be excavated by energetic friends
before one can be sure of it, for they
were formed about the same time as their
religious opinions, labeled to prevent
mistakes and laid away together, sound
when arrived at, but not quite like the
growing article. Still another class put
their ideas in their husbands keeping; if
he is absent they have none or "believe
Just what John does very strong" Some
have but one idea and instead of getting
out of the idea all there is in it for them,
they harness themselves in the tread
mill of the idea and let it run them; the
most hopeless class of all, the whirr they
are making browns 1.-THE many voices in
the world and none of them without sig
nificance," and with faces set one way
they fail to see any advantage in any
other power than the tread-miil, or any
other idea than the one they are working
for. When the political doors are opened
all these women will be there with per-
feet comprehension of the Australian
ballot system, the very sense of order
that made them slaves to the household,
victims of time, buriers of talents and
treaders of mills, will make them under
stand that before they go to the polls;
there will not betwo thousand women in
any state, as there were men in Massa-
chusetts last election, so improvident as
not to master the letter Of voting. But of
the spirit they will know as little as the
men Of their respective classes. For enc
can not put off to stated time the event
of taking thought on matters of gravest
moment, and then expect that thought
to be weighty. One does not do up ones
arm in sling for years TO be ready to lift
a great weight some day; so one can not
play the coward in trifies and expect ito
be r;oht in great memorable moments.
BIT none are too old to learn to think and
none too young. If you girls in your
teens colld realize that you are soon to
be voters. that you have work of prepa-
ration TO iii YOU for such duties, that your
best study for selfgovernment and for
| the state is ethics. That God has given
you reason and conscience 70 help you to
think for yourself, to b.avely dare and
wisely do the right. &C. ". LAYTON.
Richland Center, January is.