The Montgomery advertiser., 1909-08-06

II n
but males can be members Of Con.
sress. or the masculine pronoun wouit
not have been used. IL that position
sound and wen taken7 As the frarnsri
OF the Consultation could not havt
imagined that any but men would sve'
be ELECTED to Congress the,
probably thought It unnecessary to b
more definite than to simply use thu
word ne" In the provision settine
forth the qualifications necessary Il
sntitle one to bscoms member.
II the Colorado voters shall see prop.
or TO elect woman we may expect
some gay old debating when she ofrerI
her credentials. There will be soms
Of the members. we have little doubt
who will contend that the languag,
used in the Constitution plainly and
peremptorily bars q woman from serv.
ing In that body. On the other side
there are pretty sure to be some who
will argue in words of learned length
and laundering sound'' that the pro-
noun "he" as used refers only to the
personality Of the member and not to
the sex: therefore, a woman can be
member Of the House as we'll as q
man IL her constituents wish to send
her
Just how such a question will be de-
cided. II It comes up. is more than HUI
man wisdom can foreses. Legislative
bodies, as is well known. have a hab-
1t Of getting around rough places. land
this may prove no exception. The
casuists and the hair-splitters may find
1t possible to satisfy their scruples and
allow the woman to become one Of
them. 1t may be remarked, however.
that these headstrong females OF Col
orado do not propose to put all their
pigs In one pen. They foresee that
their representative may be rejected
because Of her sex. SO they have an
other trump card to play. being moth
ing less than to get the Federal Con-
stitution so amended that there can
no longer be any doubt as to the right
Of a woman to serve In Congress.
A big undertaking. perhaps the
reader will say. and 1t certainly 10. but
they are hopeful. ambitious and de-
termined, and II the Constitution must
be amended they win see that II Is
done. That's the kind OF citizens they
are. If they are not to have their
wants otherwise they propose to APP
peal to the people and have the mus
tv and out date Constitution amend
ed. extended ana otherwise improved
to suit them.
But let us project the Imagination
somewhat ahead and try to imagine
what will happen IL they elect her and
she is allowed to take her seat among
the he 'uns. Let us suppose the Col
orado women elect woman of the
Carrie Nation type. as possibly they
might Would any mere man stand
up and match himself against her In
a war Of words7 Al TO that matter.
would any OF them have the audacity
to call her down on any question VI
law or fact? We doubt IL any. Of them
would have such temerity.
And what would the Speaker do-if
that should be Uncle Joe Cannon. we
will say? He has the reputation Of be-
ing something Of an autocrat himself
on the bench but he has not vet been
called on to try conclusions with q
strong-minded woman-not in Con-
gress, we mean. II q woman like Aunt
Carrie should march up in front of him
and flourish a 13-Inch hat-pin under
his nose what dye think he would DO?
He'd wilt. that's what he would do.
ana tell her he'd rule any old way
she demanded and decide all disputed
points In herssfavor. Oh. there'll be
some high links in Congress IL real
strong minded woman obtains seat
We already see the finish Of some of
the men who have been having their
own way so long. They'll have to 60
way back and sit down.