The herald., 1896-07-19
AN ANSWER TO WOMEN
SUFFRAGE QUESTIONS

principles, succinctly stated, upon which
it is claimed our women ought to have
the right to vote?
The same exactly upon which man
bases his right of suffrage; the one for
which Martin Luther fought, the right
OF private judgment; the right Of self
government and Individual sovereignty;
the principle that governments derive
their just powers from the consent of
the governed; that taxation and rep
resentation are inseparable; the asser-
tion of Abraham Lincoln that mo man
is good enough to govern another with
out his consent" "a that this should be a
government of the whole people and not
Of half the people.
The difficulty with those who ask such
questions as this is that they fail to rec
ogniZe in woman an individual entity.
look upon her as subordinate part of
man. Woman is always thought of,
spoken of and legislated for simply as
an adjunct to man. In this whole ques-
tion of the suffrage the relation of the
woman to the home. the husband, the
family, to society, is freely considered,
while there is never a thought as to its
effects upon the woman herself as an
individual
Second--What are evils, If any, suff-
cred by the women of the state by rea-
son of their not having such a right?
Disfranchisement is ever and always
ucSI IdudllOIl. III lnlS country men are
disfranchised only for cause, and this
cause is always attended with humilia-
ton. They are placed in the position of
being unworthy of expressing their
opinions and having them counted.
Criminals and insane are shut away
from the ballot box. A stranger COM
ing into this country and seeing the
above classes and all women, disfran-
chised, would be forced to the conclu-
sion that the political opinions of the
latter were accounted of no more value
than those of the former. The greatest
evil suffered by women is the lack of
self-respect that must come when they
are aroused to sense of their inferior
position 1t used to be said that one
of the greatest evils of slavery was that
1T blotted out the love of liberty from
the soul of the slave and made him con-
tented with his fetters If women do
not feel the degradation Of disfranchise-
ment, then this very fact Is one of the
most prominent of the evils. But there
are other evils: to make it possible for
a woman to have any voice in the levy
ing and the spending of taxes; to deny
her the right of making the laws or of
selecting the law makers or the officials
who are to enforce the law; to refuse
her any participation in municipal gov
ernment in questions relating to the
schools, or in deciding the environment
of her family; to hold her responsible
for the conduct of grown-up children
and forbid her all power to remove
temptation from their pathway or to
make the community fit place for them.
as she made the home. In the world of
wage-earners, woman's disfranchise
ment forces her into subordinate posi-
tions at inferior wages; or, If permitted
to occupy as high position where she
does the same work as man and does
1t equally as we'll. it compels her to ac-
cept less pay for 1t. George William Cur
It's said: Men are not wise enough
nor generous enough, nor pure enough
10 ieglslate fairly for women. The laws
| OF the most civilized nations depress and
degrade women. The legislation is in
favor of the legislating class"
Third-What are the evils, If any, suf-
fered by the male population Of our state
py reason OF our women not having such
| right?
1t will be admitted, we think. that the
| institution of slavery was as degrading
} and injurious to the master as to the
slave. Without any desire to class Wo-
men as slaves, the statement may be
made that 1t IS not good for men to asso-
ciate with interiors. 1t develops in them
| the traits of the autocrat; 1t fosters theis
| self-esteem and cannot Yail to make
them more. or less tyrannicaI and over
| bearingI Women. in similar position,
| would be no better 1t requires a perfect
equality between men and women to
develop the strongest and best charac-
theristics Of both. Christ said: IF I
be lifted up, will draw all men unto
Me. To elevate woman is to lift up man
and all mankind. Man thinks that wo-
man can more successfully lead him to
pobler things while she Is subordinate.
We know that when woman Is given her
perfect freedom we will have a grander
| race Of men than the world yet has
seen.
The answers to the remaining ques-
tions are included in what has been
said above, and, while they might easily
be elaborated and others added, 1t ought
to be apparent to every student of eco
nomics that the advantages Of enfran-
chisement are greater even for women
than for men. 1t is impossible for any
class of citizens to enjoy the best that
free government can offer unless they
themselves are part bf the Shaping and
controlling power in that government
This vital question takes on peculiar
significance for women at this especial
time when the nation is celebrating the
anniversary of its independence One
hundred and twenty years ago that i'm
mortal band of revolutionary heroes
gave to the world the matchless docu-
ment upon which our government is
founded. For more than a century the
reduce to practice the splendid theories
that were then enunciated. During all
these years 1t has been endeavoring to
make true that sublime declaration that
"All men are created equal" This has
been crystallized into fact so far as the
male half of mankind Is concerned, but
the women still wait to receive their in
heritance. AS individuals they have
asked for their rights through all 4he
long century, but the first organized de-
mand Was made in July, 184S, at the first
woman's rights convention ever held.
This new Declaration" was written by
that woman statesman, Elizabeth Cady
Stanton.
Where King George figured conspicu-
ously In the Jeffersonian declaration the
words :'all men" were substituted
Eighteen of the most fragrant grievances
under which women suffered at that
time were recited. First of all was plac-
ed disfranchisement and the attendant
disabilities, the same that women labor
under at the present day. Then followed
others, many Of which have beer abol-
ished through the persistent efforts of
the women reformers of the past hs 4
century. Woman Is denied the facil-
tiles for obtaining an education and all
colleges are closed against her." said
this new Declaration. "She is exclud-
ed from all the professions except that
Of teaching, and almost all wage-earn-
ing occupations are forbidden her."
She is compelled to promise to obey her
husband in the marriage ceremony, and
the law gives him power to deprive her
of her liberty and to administer chas-
tisement. She has no property rights,