The Montgomery advertiser., 1901-06-11

forcement of the civil law Is done by
 the police and women n~contribute to it
 exactly the same way that the major
 ity of men do; they help to pay for
 1t. No man is compelled to serve on
 the police. but out of those who volun-
 teer sufficient number are paid with
 money that is levied alike on men and
 women.
 Another fine gallant speech is that Men should not place this burden on
 women."
 Far from increase the burden of wo~l men, it will lessen it. The immense
 work in which women are engaged, in charities and reforms in the constant
 repairing of the damages of society.
 would be infinitely less. If they had some power to prevent the evil. They are shut out from all influence over causes. and only permitted to deal with
 effects Nobody interferes with their bearing all the results of pauperism and crime; but they are forbidden all part in making and administering ot
 laws and shaping conditions that would lessen the number of paupers and criminals. Even in their own household they must suffer from the results. the effects of incompetence,
 disease and unjust laws, many or which they might prevent if they were not kept Tn a state Of utter neipiess- ness
 Disfranchisement is no kindness to women: 1t is cruelty unjust and makes their burdens heavier.
 The greatest of all questions yet re- mains unanswered, nor do l nope to be able to do more than glide along its borders in the time to which I re- strict myself.
 Why do women want vote!
 If things really were what the be- nevolent and kindly hearted among us wish they were, there would De no need for question or answer. The mother sex of the race would have, from these well wishers, the most beautiful envi- ronments in which to nurture and bring up the future citizens of a glorious. commonwealth. Riches and culture and genial loveliness would be attend ant upon this half of humanity, SO often called goddesses and angels But, alas! how far otherwise 1t Is, my heart bleeds to express, for Paradise ana Elysian Fields are out of the caicu- lation.
 True, the woman can say what Milton put in the mouth of Eve. in his sup posed Paradise, "Thy law is mine, but not in the sense of having made 1t or approved 1t when made.
 If there were no other reason why she should want to vote, there would pc the one to avoid being classed with traitors, with idiots, with criminals and with children.
 If there were no other there would be the demand for justice and full equality before the law; the symbol Of self government which assumes her self protection. But when we invite you to look abroad upon the great army of wage-workers today and see the women, the mothers of families. who sometimes have the door locked at home on a group of small children to keep them safe until she return with food, and know that it is the struggle of the survival of the Attest and that the weakest are still further handi- capped by the lack of any voice to regulate the laws that crush her; that it Is really not ques- tion of sex but of the necessity of af- fording assistance to helpless ana needy class of human beings, and If you believe as we do that the ballot will help this a little,-7you will not think the demand so unnecessary. The de- mand for equal wages for equal work has slowly obtained consideration and yet 1t is far from settled. The places affording living salaries have always been given to men as the breadwin" ners of the civilized world, though the man be unmarried and without depend- ents, while a woman, though she be supporting children and sometimes an invalid or good for nothing husband, is considered an interloper pushing her. self into some mans place, where she generally receives half his wages You might dissent from this in plea for better things lately, but l can show point in order. happening less than month ago, where a change was made in the school, the young woman teach CT resigning and the place was filled by a young lad, scarcely more than Fl, with only the high school certificate: but his salary was immediately raised to teach precisely the same grade and number of pupils.
 remember the day when woman's suffrage advocate. lady doctor or a female lawyer were never mentioned in ,l polite society. If a woman made her living it must be as a milliner, dress maker or seamstress, and make no in- vasion of the so-called masculine ter rtory. When men receive $l2.5o week as clerks in stores, the female clerks get $5.
 This injustice may arise from the belief that woman's needs are less. Men have seen how moderate are all the demands of women of their &C., mean good women,-you not the naughty. fast dam sels. adventuresses and the like, who never ask for the ballot, and men, | knowing that very little money would | supply their needs, have made core | spending financial arrangements. This ia true in the homes which men pro- | vide; but when she provides her own | home, she enjoys soft places with fat | salaries, public positions with little to | do and much to get, such as weather bureau places, clerk and secretary ships in Government, state and muni- cipaI offices, and the successful pro- fessions. For all these things women have proved their capacity and for higher things they will prove equally as worthy. J
 do not seek to portray incidents 1f sorrow, though they are as multi tudinous as leaves in Valambrosa con- ,erning the struggles of the female wage worker. whose condition Is to be oettered by the ballot in her hand; but I'll give d cold blooded statement of ,arrol D. Wright, who says: Indus rial and political equality will be CO., ordinate in their result. Political in- -luence will bring industrial emanci- oation." Woman asks the ballot for .he same reason that men have asked for it. She asks it for self protection. Why else have men been working for he ballot? The laboring men have ought for 1t until they have got 1t. There is a very concrete illustration of he protective value of the ballot in he fact that in New York State it ock the farmers three months to get ! bill through to protect their milk