The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1900-11-28
Municipal Suffrage for Women.

and over which the fail of public dis
cussion, in press and forum, has been
swung in this State for a generation,
was Refreshed in the Senate yester-
day, with the usual result,
If it is proposed to concede munich
pal suffrage TO women why lay the
claim and make,.the sargument on a
property, or tax psyingi basisP The
logic of this claim is as strong for other
classes of property iowners, to whom
the privilege is denied, as for property
owning women. &The possession of
property is a sordi6, an irrational,
qualification forstheslsufrage in a gov
eminent by the people. 1t lie better
suited to an oligarchy or,an aristocracy.
Its absurdity, its unhtness, as a basis
for voting, in the kind lof government
framed for the United Estates of Amer
lea, was pertinently Eillustrated by
Franklin in theIesrly discussions on the
subject. Suppose, lsuggested Franklin,
property qualification. lie made. A
man today owns a:jackaes.and for this
reason can vote. IS Tomorrow the jack
ass dies and the.mans.privilege is gone.
Who was the reallvoter 1.-THE sjackass or
the mani That ended Che debate on
that point. In government such as
this, manhood is the proper basis Of
the suffrage; or, if it.ie proposed to ex-
tend the limits of the privilege and
confer it upon women, swomanhood
ought to be the broadiground on which
the extension should. be asked and
justified.
The claim of municipal suffrage for
women is madeIon a wrongs basis. 1t
cannot be iusti6edionsthe ground that
they have property,llpay sstaxes, and
therefore shouldlhaveIthe right to vote
In municipal elections. AS has been
said, and as a ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS will
show, in every community property
owners and taxpayers Hwho are not
women are disfrsnchised.U IN If any class
of women canI.puti up claim to the
privilege of voting inItown, village and
city meeting, andleuforce 1.-THE demand
with reasons that shouldsicommand re-
spectful attention-not.to.say the con-
cession Of the privilege asked-it is the
women who are sraising families of
children, whether:so-..::not they have a
grand list. They::sare sentitled to
grand list es large as: thesIheaviest tax
payer of the community in. which they
are legal residents.
These womenihave asvital.interest in
the highest welfareiof community, in
good schools, good:order, ss..good morals,
suppression Of viceiand drunkenness,
and all thingsIselselLof. sgood repute.
They could be countedIonl to vote Yes
on propositionttos increase the effi-
cheney of the publici schools, Tor No on
the question of settingl .traps::..for their
children, in the shapeiof saloons for the
legalized sale of.liquor to.create, nurse
and supply an appetite.for drink. Their
vote coyld be reckoned Onsthe side Of
all similar pro pesitions.for theI welfare
of community ,sIand:iagainstIlany like
measure for its..Snjurys ers.demoraliza-
ton.
1t is not generally understood that
the property owning::-andi.tax paying
woman is Observation-Disclosures ideas or
inelinations inithetmatteriof public ex-
penditures for IschoolsiEo .iother wise
public institutions ori:purposes than is
man in the sameliclass.l fit is some
times charged hatineither,bin some in
stances, is as public spirited as wise re-
gard for the public welfare.demands. AS
between the.taXpaying..andlth .non-tax-
paying woman the case may be this:
Here is a woman:havingEproperty and
paying taxes: Sheis. without,children, or
the latter have grown up, or are married
or have moved...away. Her direct in
terest in schools is non-existent, or is
thing of the past. AN increase in the
tax rate forIa newiechool house or for
better Reconstruction does not ap-
peal to her APPROVAL so powerfully So
does low taxation. Her neighbor ia
rearing promising family of boys and
girls. She hasIno grand list, but she
has jewels gilmore value than gold or
silver. She naturally wants good
schools, and a.schoola house of becom-
ing excellence. The bill that was prop,
erly deniedlalthirdireading on Wednes
day in the Senate: become a law, would
make it possible for the taxpsying
woman to deprive, or to assist in de-
priving, her non-taxpaying neighbor Of
that which is in the highest degree es
sential for the welfare of her children
for the welfare, also, of that immediate
community, and of the State and Ma
ton at large.
If municipal suffrage is given Il
anv woman seXtend il frat In her VIII