The representative. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1893-1901, 1895-02-13
WOMAN'S SUFFRAGE.
There Would Be Some Mutality

We published in our Forum last week
an interesting letter from Mrs. Julia B.
Nelson, of Red Wing, in favor of the |
Peoples Party making female suffrage |
a part of it's platform. We have great |
respect for Mrs Nelson. She is very
able, excellent lady Last fall both
the old parties of Goodhue county, re-
fused to nominate her for county SUI
perintendent of schools, but the POpu
lists made her their candidate. We
had the pleasure Of listening to one of
her campaign speeches, and very
creditable speech it was; it was made
at Populist meeting; and yet, if our
memory serves US right, she never ut
tered syllable in support of the Peo-
ples Party which had placed her in
nomination. Not a word. She SIM
ply appealed for votes for herself, and
advocated female suffrage. Now, it
seems to US that if the Peoples Party
could afford to take on it's shoulders
the unpopular burden of woman's
rights, the woman it nominated could
afford to run counter to old pref udices
for enough to say a good word for the
Peoples Party. II our candidates are
ashamed of us how can we expect the
public to vote for us? There should
be some mutuality about these
things.
Now, we are not attacking Woman'S
Suffrage; the point we desire to make
is that it had better stand or fall on
its own merits; it had better run it's
own campaigns. There is no reason
why the Peoples Party should mount
| it on the front seat of the band
wagon, with flag in hand, and feath-
ers in it's hat, and be pelted with de-
bauched eggs, thrown principally by
| energetic women; while the male sex
hoot and yell at US as the procession
passes by.
The Peoples Party platform is not
scrap-bag into which everything is to
be stuck which anybody is in favor Of.
1t is an engine of reform; clean cut
and definite; and should not be turned
into a travelling menagerie, dime
museum, or a chinese laundry.
We think it very probable that
Woman's Suffrage will speedily
triumph. Since the Denver election,
when the servant-girlS were brought
out by their employers to vote, en-
masse, for the Republican party; and
the gamblers, thugs, preachers and
abandoned women, all marched side
by side to the polls, in glorious har
mony, to prevent Populist success, old
party prejudices against woman's suf-
frage have largely subsided. If they
could see an opportunity to enable
popular Indifference or ignorance to
triumph little longer over popular
intelligence they would let the horses
vote.
Now, we do not mean to compare
the women with the beasts of burden
There are women who are the highest
workmanship Of God on earth,-but
little lower than the angels,-the
ministering spirits of all goodness
But alas! There are millions Of WON
en- who are as low as the lowest men
millions more who have taken no in
terest in governments; whose thoughts
dwell on frivolities; who, in short, are
absolute, ,-unconditioned fools. In
trying to reform the abuses which
threaten the destruction of civiliZa-
tion we find ourselves beaten back by
vast army of ignorant, bigoted, un-
reasoning men. Is it wise to reinforce
this potential stupidity with another
army Of equally ignorant and unrea-
| vUhn dnnff LpnW hp ri T.
ference between the tariff and hoop
skirt: and to whom "remonetiZation'
is simply a new French way of dress
ing the hair.
Is it not woman's fault that in the
i, old time, and for countless ages, she
was mans slave, and has since beer
, his play-thing She is advancing won
, derfully. She is becoming every veal
more self-sustaining, serious and sen
sible. She thinks less of her bonnet
and more of mankind. Ladies like
Mrs. Nelson are doing great work
! among their sisters, to lift them up
But think of the girls who crowd the
$ Minneapolis courthouse to admire the
. beauty of that cruel beast, the WON
an-slayer, Harry Hayward. One OI
Y them sent him bouquet of viOlets
And others grin and smile upon th'
horror. And think Of the poor, half
naked army of female toilers in TIN
cotton fields of the South, who hav'
t not thought above their animal in
stincts. Can the precious gift Of sui
frage be safely placed in their hand
: in this day of the nations peril?
r Let us be sensible and reasonable
e and not attempt to reform all the i'll
: : OF the world at one sitting. Let U
:, leave something for posterity to az
t complish. l. u.