The herald., 1896-07-05

watchfulness, and that Q child of four
teen can decide who shall have the GUS
tody of 1t.
There is just one law on our statute
books l am ashamed of. l refer to the
one fixing the age of consent at years.
l am a native of America and DEM
ocrat by choice, and when first heard
that our own Governor Budd had vetoed
the bill to raise the age of consent must
confess to sudden strong desire to vote.
1t did not last long, however, because
looked beyond the act for a motive.
l am a total stranger to Governor
Budd, and cannot say what his motive
was; perhaps he thought our boys
needed protection as well as our girls.
If we mothers deny our children
through ignorance of proper hygiene
hereditary and sexual laws, the right
to be properly born, and when they see
the result of our own selfish gratifica-
tion, are neglected by us on our unceas-
ing senseless pursuit, after that golden
calf of fashion and social position, which
can be purchased with money Virtue
and real worth not always necessary
then If they fall shall we blame our legis-
lators for not making laws to keep them
pure?
Woman, know thyself." AS for
woman's intellectual development in the
state of California being retarded by
the laws, that statement will not even
hold straw. 1 wonder how many of my
sister suffragists can give their little
sons an intelligent answer when they
come running to them with these ques-
tons: Mamma, what is civil govern
ment" Teacher was talking about it in
school today?" who is the president 2"
What is congress?" How often they
are turned away with the answer: "Oh,
don't know. dear; run and ask papa"
and goes on grieving because her hus-
re- .fI fIat. o,,sx a.
whom to discuss the issues of the ap-
preaching political campaign and abuses
men in general for being brutes not to
appreciate woman's superior intellec-
tual faculties. There is no excuse what
ever for the woman of California not be-
ing their husbands and brothers intel
lectual equal; they have exactly the
same privileges. If they would only
read the newspapers intelligently and
entertain each other with profitable
conversation, the state would be bene-
fited more than by their votes in their
present ignorant condition.
FEMININE gender does not always rep
resent brains. Women do not need the
ballot in California for their perfect
physical, mental, moral and spiritual de-
velopment and yet how many do we
md perfectly developed?
by their fruits ye shall know them -
When they have proved to you that they
'"h piopeTly Ill tne1r own office of
motherhood, then think about giving
them the ballot
The liquor traffic is not the greatest
curse of our nation; the novel reading
ana the corset are it's equal The last
two can be removed without the ballot.
still, we have them. Is the self f-deformed
by the corset result in half-invalid anu
novel reading result, sentimental dys-
pepsia, and all that it implies? Woman.
q more desirable companion than a
gambling drinking man; one is just as
expensive as the other. and is respon-
sible for the wave of crime and misery
that is now passing over this nation ut
the present time. / think from theo-
sophical standpoint 1t viii take at least
two more incarnations before it will be
best for us to attempt the process of pol
ishlng each others brains and morals
in politics. CACTUS