The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1895-03-09
Woman Suffrage.

Woman Suffrage.
Upon another page. this morning. will
be found the text of a paper on woman
suffrage, recently read by Mrs. Franc II.
Vail. of this city. at West Pittston. 1t
Is somewhat gloomy in its tone, but
may be said to fairly present the atiir-
men vote?" We cannot bring ourselves
up to the belief that affairs are at so
low an ebb in public government as
Mrs. Vail would seem to imply. We are
not ready TO agree with her that
patriotism Is dying or that debauchery,
corruption and miscellaneous evils have
got the whip hand of things in the ad-
ministration Of law and order in the
United States. Ii is easy To say that
this is SO; but 1t is not easy to procure
for that assertion the assent of persons
who are healthy and ordinarily prosper
Gus. From the standpoint of fact. the
Introductory generalities in Mrs. Nairs
address are probably exaggerated.
They rest, it seems 10 us. on emotion
rather than on logic. Neither are they
needed to establish woman's claim IL
the ballot, if she has one. What are
the arguments on this latter point?
Let us look. for moment. at the
negative side. The ablest recent sum-
mary of that side is to be found in the
report of Chairman Goodelle. of the
committee on suffrage made to the New
York constitutional convention which
lately declined to extend the franchise
of suffrage TO women. Starting out
with the premise that suffrage is not i
cation laid upon the citizen for the
benefit of the state. he asserts that the
sole question should be. Would the
state be benefited by comforting suf-
frage on women" He answers that it
would not; first, because the introduc-
ton of politics into the family would
breed domestic strife; secondly, because
by changing the sphere of woman's in
tiuence from the peace and purity of
the home TO the yitiated and vitiating
atmosphere of the ward caucus. the
political club. the polls and the lobbies
and comrnittee rooms of halls of legisla-
ton in time of peace, or to the grim
arena of battle during wartime. wo-
man would be degraded rather than up
lifted and social development would be
arrested; and lastly. because the num-
but a small proportion to those who
take no pains to present request for
it. and Is even smaller than the number
of those who are aggressively opposed
to the proposition that it be conferred
upon them. The spirit of the report is
we'll crystallized in the chairman's as
sertion that woman is not oppressed;
she is not neglected; she Is first con-
sidered in times Of common peril, and
as to her influence in courts Of justice
1t has been truly said that in jury
cases, at least, the difficulty is not for
women to get justice against men, but
for men to get justice against women"
In rebuttal of these arguments 1t is
claimed by those who argue for woman
suffrage that its enactment would
purify politics" apparently upon the
basket will be made clean as soon as
sound apples are placed near 1t. I'm
fortunately, the teaching of science Is
that the rot will spread; and there is, 1t
seems to US, infinitely more danger of
the voting woman getting worse be-
cause OF the suffrage than there Is rea-
sonable probability that the voting man
will be made better by 1t. 1t has al
ways been a belief with us that the
qualification for voting should be one
of intelligence and sound character
rather than one of sex. The ignorant
or vicious woman and man ought both
to be debarred from the polls. while the
intelligent and upright man and wo-
man might with approximate safety be
admitted to the polls on equal terms,
provided the woman should wish for
that privilege. But until 1t Is perfectly
clear that the good women of America
do desire the ballot, and until the
guardians of that fountain spring of
government are prepared to make
general publication irrespective o: sex.
the agitation for woman suffrage Will,
in our judgment. deserve to fail.
1.-THE attack" of the Smith bin ION
the garb of the teacher covers" says
the Philadelphia Record. "a furtive at
tack on the teachers creed" Not
necessarily. II may cover merely an
effort to keep sectarianism out of the
public schools. Would the Record OBJ
ject to that?
Another Arbitration Plan.
Among the reform bills proposed for
enactment by the Civic Federation of
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