The Washington times., 1902-02-19

|
were Messrs. Bacon. chairman; Bard
Berry, Wctmore, and Mitchell.
| The bombardment was opened by Har-
riet May Mills, who declared the Woman
Suffrage Association to be the true Daugh-
| ters Of the Revolution. She also told the
story of the interest taken by the girls
of the Junior Republic in the politics OF
| that association.
Mrs. BInnkenburS's speech.
| She was followed by Mrs. Lucretia
Blankenburg, of Pennsylvania. who spoke
| as follows:
All through song and story woman is
! represented as the queen of the home.
where she is supposed to reign supreme.
In actual fact she only shares the home
with the King. But as rule the admins
tration Of the nome belongs to the queen,
which is proper. What has this to do
with voting and politics? you may ask.
Politics is continually coming into the
business affairs of the home 1t comes in
through the water pipes-the more cor
rupt the politics. the dirtier the water
1T comes in through the gas pipes or
along the electric wires. 1t comes in
through the windows and doors in the
form of dust, the result of poor paving or
neglected streets.
Politics comes into the home through
home. an indirect tax upon nearly every
article used in the home, as food, furnish
ings. and clothing.
Indeed, so large a revenue is collected
from the hcme that if it were cut off the
Government would find its chief support
gone. The proportion of women who con-
tribute the financial sinews Of war is
greater than generally accredited. In
Philadelphia onc-lifth of the taxes re-
turned TO the municipal treasury are paid
by women.
AT a session of our national suffrage
convention, held this week, fully nine
tenths OF the women present announced
themselves taxpayers. Some had paid
their taxes for years under protest. Tax
alton without representation is tyran-
nous to women as to men.
Men as Housel.ccpers.
Men do not make study of house
keeping, yet they are elected to do the
housekeeping for whole city of homes
"Gentlemen. what we want is to take
the home into politics, since municipal
politics is only housekeeping on a larger
scale. We want the interests Of the home
carried into, State and nation.
1T would be no unprecedented thing to
share the seats of Congress with women.
Gurdon, in his Antiquities of Parliament.
states that during the reign of Edward III
of England no less than ten peeresses re-
ceived writs TO take their seats in Parlia-
ment, the national congress of England"
Wisconsin Heard From.
The next speaker was Rev Olympia
Brown, of Wisconsin. who said that she
did not purpose to discuss the injustice
oil taxing women for government in
which they had no share, but rather in
the interest of the rulers of the country.
to ask them TO look on both sides of the
question.
When you have before you ii problem
OF Importance" she said, "you need to
look at the womans side of it as well as
view. In order to get the truth Won must
have woman's testimony as well as mans
You say woman has intuition and man has
reason. Very well; why not avail YOUR
selves OF both-the best thought of man
supplanted by the best thought of WON
an"
DO Not Ask for ChIynIry.
Mrs Mariana Chapman, of New York.
10 of Io
and aliens to vote. as they frequently do
by fraud, while women are permanently
We do not ask for chyalry," she said |
but for something better-justice. We
need protection. We ask the ballot be-
cause this is the only civilized country in !
the world where women are made the !
subjects of foreign men-the only Anglo |
Saxon country in which women have so !
low status"
Miss Gail Laughlin then rose to speak |
on The Wage Earner's Need of the !
Ballot" and was greeted with applause.
Miss Laughlin has been given the place
OF principal speaker. which until this year
has been held by Miss Anthony, on tne |
occasion OF the Congressional hearing.
The speaker began by pointing out the |
great benefit of the ballot to the working |
five million wage-earning women in the |
country needed the ballot quite as much !
for the Improvement of their condition in |
the matter of wages and for their protec- |
lion.
In industrial life as nowhere else"
the speaker continued, men and women |
meet on an equality and in open compe- |
ttion. If wOman's interests are to be |
protected she must protect them herself |
Without the ballot she must submit to |
unfair restrictions which her competitor !
Fan place upon her."
Voices From Foreign Lands.
The foreign delegates then read their |
papers. Nine. Gudrun Drewsen. OF Nor
way. being the first on the list. She |
spoke hopefully of the progress made in
behalf of the cause OF women in that |
Miss Vida Goldstein, of Aus
ralia, said that to the women of that
1t seemed almost incredible that |
american women should not have munich
pal and school suffrage.
Mrs. Brown, of Minneapolis. next spoke.
She said thar the women OF Minnesota
we're neither discontinued nor envous,
yut felt that they should be full citizens
II the United States.
I'VE don't want the earth" she said
We only want share. Our foreign
quests tell us that in no other country is
he wife so much the comrade, friend, and
.dviser of her husband, and we feel that |
he ballot is our natural right. You have
aught us some OF this. You made the
GODDESS of Liberty a woman. Why not
,ull her down and put the Colossus of
rhodes in her place? Gentlemen, We
would like to vote. if you please"