The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1894-05-18
OUR SUFFRAGE DEBATE.

a Wilson and he to oppose. However
, the ladies are doing well and seem t.
be getting the best of the fight, ant
Mr.. Wilson had better haul down hi
colors. He has found out that the in
tellect of woman is fully match TO
masculine brains and should grace
fully surrender.
wish to add one, perhaps two let
tiers to the general fund. And to be
gin with, 1 wish to state that I an
now and always have been in favor o
giving the ladies equal political rights
with the men. never could see tn,
sense or justice in depriving one hal
of eur population-admittedly thu
best half at that, of any politica
rights which the men possess. The
more intelligence and virtue we put
into anything the better it Is, and 4
there is anything on top of Gods
green earth that needs 1t, it is oul
American politics; who is more capa'
BILE of casting a pure, honest, intelli.
gent ballot that will promote the
veal of the whole country, than
woman. From time immemorial a
foolish, insane, and very ungallant
prejudice on the part of the men,
based upon their self asserted claim
of intellectual superiority, has kept
the ladies from their rights. From
time immemorial with hypocritical
cant man has proclaimed himself
woman's friend and protector, but
what has he done for her but enslave
her? Every vantage ground she
holds to day, she has by sheer force Of
character and power of intellect,
wrung from HIM i'm the face of the
most bitter opposition and protest.
First, he declared she had no intel
lect, or. at best very weak one, that
was incapable of receiving an educa-
ton, but she soon drove him from this
position, then he fortified himself
with the theory that she did not need
an education. That thorough men,
tai training was not necessary for her
to master the little perplexities and
perform the duties incident to her
narrow. contracted, limited kitchen
life; that it was not necessary for her
to understand chemistry in order for
her to properly mix and bake a loaf
of bread, or grammer in order to spank
the children, or philosophy to bear
uncomplainingly the abuse and in
difference of a heartless husband, and
our schools and colleges were a sealed
book to her, and it was considered al
most sin to educate girl. But she
has given the lie to mans false claims
and assertions. and driven him from
position after position and covered
him with shame and confusion. If
woman has no intellect then she is
doing very well without one, for she
is capturing all the great prizes in the
great colleges of the world.
We men seem to imagine that we
run this big world without the
assistance of the ladies but pshaw! we
can't run one county. Lots of us can't
run ourselves. Adam couldn't even
run the garden of Eden, although
God had fixed it up in mighty good
running order, and all he had to do
was to let it run itself but he couldn't
even do that. But when he got Eve
he imagined he could run the whole
world and left the garden and let me
say, he came nearer running the
world with Ewes assistance than he
did Eden without her. He was . to-
tai failure in one case and quite sue
cess in the other in the other. So 1t
is now days, man is quite as much of
a failure in politics at least as Adam
was at playing the gentleman and
why not let woman try ner hand at it.
She might make it better, and she
certainly can't make it any worse.
There is no risk to run, but the chances
are all for the better. How many
bachelors have ever attained distinct
ion in war, politics, science or the
world OF letters. The fact is, man
cannot be success in anything with
out the assistance of woman, and il
she is a success i'm everything else,
why cannot she be in politics? A |
man without a wife and mark you,
when 1 say wife, mean in its fullest |
sense and do not mean a slave in
petticoats fit only lin his estimation)
to do household drudgery and attend
to the children, but pure. noble, in
telligent being, possessing all the
rights that he possesses, is like our
"Big Majority" Congress, an un-
wieldly and useless bulk, and he can
never get a quorum OF sense to do
business.
The plea that man was made first
and is therefore woman's superior in
mental endowments, don't spell any
thing. But if this be so, then what
about the monkey? 1t is good on
the monkey but bad on the man.
guess you had better drop this part of
it though it be a very sweet hobby.
How do you know but what God in
tended to and did make an improve {
ment on man when he made woman?
1t is strictly in the line of improve
ment as well as an example for us to
follow i'm all we undertake. He GER
'ainly had better material to make