The record-union., 1898-01-26

puDlc at large, SO Tar as II may, Ill q
fair and candid manner, the many CO.
gent reasons for its belief that neither
/ the best interests OF women, nor the
good OF the community at large would
| be served by giving TO women the right
to political action.
ARE WOMEN INFERIOR TO MEN:
| 1t is alleged by the suffrag gists that ex-
clusion of women from the franchise
| marks them as inferior to men, and
that they desire to be considered the
equals of men before the law. A wom-
an, they say, can cast a ballot as well as
q man. Truly, child of 10 years can
cast ballet as We'll as either, but With
the intelligence which should lie behind
the ballot, and the physical force which
| should give it efficacy the case is far
different A little reflection shows one
| that the kind of intelligence which the
law-naNer should possess, the knowl-
edge of the practical things Of the out
side world such as currency, banking,
the franchises granted to corporations,
the great control of vast commercial
and manufacturing interests, with other
details Of practical life, not easily emu
/ merated, are affairs which lie almost
wholly within the domain of man, and
which it would be a sad waste Of energy
for women in general to- become famil-
iarly acquainted with. To say that
many ignorant male voters know less
OF these things than many women IS
only going back to the question or
whether we ought to more than double
this ignorant vote, which even now con-
stitutes one of the greatest perils of the
republic, in order to bestow the fran
chise upon a few intelligent women.
the greater part of whom do not desire
it, and would not use it if they had it, In
the matter Of physical power to enforce
the ballot, the inequality of women is
still more apparent. Does it therefore,
follow that women are on the whole in
ferior to men? BY no means. In her
own domain, which includes the most
vital, the most spiritual the most pro-
gressive elements of life she is as much
his superior, as he is hers in outer and
material things. SO that the equality
/ between them is by no means destroyed
by has superiority as a law-maker and
administrator of public affairs.
If in the past, any idea of the actual
inferiority of women has prevailed, his
tory during the past century has amply
reflected it, and the process is still going
on, quite irrespective of the fact that
the general concensus Of the civilized
world refuses TO concede their suita-
bility to political duties.
TAXATION WITHOUT REPRESEN-
TATION.
If women pay taxes. why should they
not be represented in those bodies
which levy taxes?
Tn c.
present civilized order remains, the
women who pay taxes would always be
in small minority The women who
have accumulated the property upon
which they are taxed, are still small
er one. since most women inherit rather
than accumulate wealth Since women
are already sufficiently weighted with
duties which men cannot perform in
! their stead, it is manifestly unfair to
add to the burdens of the entire sex,
for the sake of fancied justice to the
very few. For it must be remembered
! that if the power to vote concerning
taxes is given TO such women as own
property, it must also, since properly
qualifications are mostly non-exstent
in this country, be extended to the
great mass of women who are not prop
| Il y ON RiS. tIidHStUS w lldl iIlISfiL DS
the conservative power Of a few prop
erty-oWning women into the extremely
radical power over wealth, of the large
mass of women, who own nothing and,
| consequently, have no direct interest in
the proper conservation of public funds,
but rather the contrary: women, to
whose interest it would be, rot TO save
the public money but to spend it; so
h. f,,-- h.
ing women would be worse than the
! first. At present, women are taxed az
precisely the same rates as men, they
have precisely the same means of red
ress against unjust taxation, nor can
| they, as members of the tax-payng
and tax-levying community, be said to
be unrepresented.
LEGAL CHANGES NEEDED BY
WOMEN.
So rapid has been the DEVELOPMENT OF
| the status and needs of women since
| the foundation of our republican insti-
tut;ons that it may well be that the
laws OF certain States have not kept
| pace with this advance but still need
to be adapted in certain particulars to
| the new status of women But the
history of the past thirty years proves
conclusively, that so fast and so far as
| these needs become apparent men are
willing and jealous TO meet them. For
these and all other reforms which are
local and temporary, which may easily
be eff cted by women CT good sense, act
ing through private channels, we see
no reason why political responsibilities
| should be imposed upon all women
under all circumstances and for all
time, without regard TO those impera-
tive and absorbing duties which. in the
case of the majority OF women, would
stand greatly in the way of their proper
discharge.
The truth is that the women of to-
day are in advance of men, in that they
! enjoy all the benefit of a properly re-
| stricted suffrage, and Il would be folly
to change their position for Cne in which
| the vote Of the ignorant and degraded
| would more than counter-balance their
own. Everywhere. intelligent women
Of good character are effective agents
in good work. public as well as private
It is only the women who are without
moral influence. who lack this power;
and to give them the ballot would not
/ only be a mistake in itself. Il would
| place in their hands the power to utter
" nul!ify the moral influence of the
more enlightened Of their sex The
pure and educated womanhood of the
nation, non-voting, and thus unbiased
by the selfish considerations which nat
urally sway political aspirants, should
form the strongest and purest element
IF conservatism possible. in a cominu-
nifty where the entire male population
| nd fi~h